RWBY: Shattered FairyTale
by Nate Cu-Connallain
Summary: In a world of fairy tales, people are foolish to think that not one of them is true. The Grimm are growing stronger and danger is looming. It seems that the only thing standing between them and Remnant is Ruby. With Silver Eyes, she will be the one who's choices determine victory or defeat. But there is something else of her world, of magic, and secrecy, that threatens to end it.
1. Prologue: Red (Redux)

**Hi there,**

 **So, I've decide to try my hand at a RWBY story. A little bit of an AU/ new story that I haven't seen yet from anyone else.**

 **As you've probably guessed from me writing this I'm a big fan of RWBY and RoosterTeeth in general. For any confused people this chapter has been slightly redone. So, if you find any spelling errors of incorrect grammar please let me know.**

 **If this peaks your interest be sure to stick around for more.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Remnant.

A world full of wonder, filled with amazing sites and even more amazing creatures. Long ago, when the first vestiges of man rose up from the darkness; they conquered it and brought forth an age of light where the creatures of Grimm were pushed back to the far corners of the world.

Man was powerful, a united front against the monsters, and yet it was only with the power of nature's wrath that they were able to survive.

And flourish.

This substance was named dust; as it was from dust they came and dust they returned to. That combined with the presence of aura, with the knowledge that the soul was real.

This should have been the first indication that this world was not all that it seemed, that even from the start it was something far behind the comprehension for both Human and Faunus.

Sadly, the truth of these great feats were soon forgotten; lost to the passages of time and regarded as nothing more than fairy tales. And once people felt abandoned by the comfort of these stories conflict was sure to rise.

After the children of dust defeated the Grimm, they turned on each other, in their quests of greed, power or even freedom the continents struck out against each other, inviting pain, misery and despair.

And fear. And the Grimm returned, feeding off this fear.

A war broke out, several in fact that sowed discord and the biggest of these was given the title, of Great War. Although there was nothing great about it in the slightest… Thankfully for the people of Remnant war cannot last forever, the desire for safety far outweighing the want for destruction.

The four kingdoms were founded and through the tenacity and will of humans, safe havens were built, places of hope for the long forgotten people of dust. Huntsman and huntresses rose up, much like the people of old to fight back the darkness and defend those who could not defend themselves.

Peace… yes, a beautiful thing for many people, a harmony in the world that made everyone feel safe… but…

Not everyone desired this happiness and what was more, it was not a fair happiness, it was not a thing that all people got to enjoy, and because of that; much like how war cannot last forever, neither can peace.

And when that happens, the old tales will need to be revived, for they were not just myths but things that might one day save this world…

Or perhaps lead it its final end.

This leads us to the first of these stories, of the one who emulates their power.

In this world, things can change in the smallest of ways, and as a result change in the most drastic, this in one of those stories, it may be a work of fiction, or a tale of a long forgotten past, or a vision of the future or present in a far off place. One thing is certain though; this time, begins with a girl in a little red hood.

"Dammit, keep up, we're almost there!"

The red hood called over her shoulder to the older girl running behind her. The kingdom of Vale was in the middle of an ominous storm that spread throughout the land. In a small town in the middle of the county the two young women had attempted to seek shelter, luckily they had found an inn, close to the centre where they could arrange themselves

The building was large, two stories, exterior decorated in stone. As the duo stumbled out of the torrent of water that threatened to drown them, they got to take a look around and breath, thankful they weren't too wet, both had hoods that covered their heads, and with the weather, they weren't questioned on hiding their faces either.

The girl in red motioned to her partner and made her way over to the reception, stopping to look up at the owner; a human with a dark beard and darker eyes.

The girl's voice was quiet. "A room please, for two people."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Alright, for how long?"

"The weekend."

"Got the coin to pay for that?"

His response was a sack of coins, the perfect amount to pay for what they wanted… and a little more for a silent request not to be bothered.

He nodded. "Second door on your way up, here's the key." He told her, tossing the tiny piece of metal that red caught with ease.

"Thank you." She said as she made her way upstairs, the girl in the green hood following behind. They made their way to the room, making sure to lock the door behind them. Red stopped, resting an ear against the wood and counted to ten.

"Nine-eighths, nine-ninths… ten," she let out a breath. "Ok, we're clear."

She turned as the other girl flopped on to one of the beds and rushed to her side.

"Amber! Are you ok? Nothing's hurting is it?"

A weak chuckle as the green hood came off to reveal a young woman with eyes that matched her name, and light brown hair, her skin was tanned but had the look of tiredness about it – ever so slightly pale – that said she needed a rest.

"I'm fine Ruby, just a little beat from creating that storm… my powers aren't what they used to be, takes a lot of energy for me now?"

Ruby let out a notable sigh of relief and sat down beside her to relax her own body. The journey here had been rough and they'd been on the run for most of it, Ruby hadn't got any news from her informant for weeks and she was beginning to worry if they'd been compromised, because after their last failure they were in danger of being found out.

The whole situation had been ruined when Ruby and Amber had run into that man; Watts something… the two of them alone hadn't been able to so much as scratch him, only managing to escape by some stroke of luck and now they didn't know if the man was after them or just decided they weren't worth it.

The fifteen year old look over to the older of the two, who had her eyes closed as if trying to sleep. Ruby couldn't help but inspect her face… and the scar that marred her left eye. It branch off from left side of her face.

Even months after the incident, Ruby still couldn't help but blame herself a little for it; if she had been just a little faster it could have been avoided.

But she wasn't, and Amber was left with a permanent reminder of her slip-up.

Amber pried open one eye and glanced at Ruby and smiled weakly. "Hey, I told you I'm fine. Don't worry about it. I just need some sleep and then I'll be good to go… speaking of which."

Ruby let out a squeak when a pair of tanned arms wrapped around her neck and dragged her back onto the bed. Amber eyes gazing playfully at startled silver.

"You need to get some rest, and before you say anything; I'll hold you down if I have too so don't bother trying to escape me missus."

Ruby puffed out her cheeks cutely and valiantly attempted to wiggle from the maidens grasp, all it did was make the older girl giggle and hold on tighter.

"Amber," she whined. "Let _go!_ I need to keep a lookout."

Amber rolled her eyes before relenting and propping herself up against the headboard. Her body seemed to visibly relax in a way that showed she was a lot more drained than she let on. Despite this she gave the red-hood a smile. "Hey, what good is my bodyguard going to be if she falls asleep in the middle of a fight?"

Ruby stayed standing a moment longer before giving up with a sigh and laying herself next to her charge, mumbling her frustration.

"It's not my fault that I can kick your butt. Not my fault you need me to look after you."

A small smile from the maiden showed the levity of the situation. "Maybe not… but it's your fault that you got caught up in all this. Mrs Branwen told me you stuck your nose in a place it didn't belong… to think you were such a nosy child"

Ruby threw up her hands in protest. "Well if uncle Qrow had given me just a _little_ more information then I wouldn't have learned about magic at all! I mean yeah I know that a ten year old shouldn't be tailing their supper secretive uncle but if he was that drunk enough to somehow not notice me then he deserved Glynda's scolding."

Amber shook her head in good humour. "I thought you had accepted this whole thing. Having second thoughts after our latest tirade?"

"Well when I have to look after your lazy butt that kind of becomes a given." Ruby barked back with a grin on her face.

The tanned girl placed on hand on her chest and gave a look of mock offense written on her face. "Miss Rose! Are you implying that you don't want anything to do with me anymore? Am I that much of a burden?"

The scythe wielder giggled, turned to her charge and put her hands on her hips as she gave Amber a tiny push . "You bet I am! Honestly, if it wasn't for me you'd be dead right now, have the time you get so tired I have to drag your dead weight around."

There was a moment of silence.

Then the two of them burst into a fit of laughter at the morbid humour they were referencing before they settled back onto the bed for a few minutes. Eventually Ruby sighed. "Listen, I'm just going to scout out the area a little bit… I won't be too long ok?"

"…fine. But if you're not back in a few hours I'm going out to look for you."

Ruby gave a mock-salute as she bounced up from the mattress and climbed out the window; clearly disregarding what a normal person would do and just use the door.

Amber watched the empty window for a few more seconds, before shifting into a position that she could lay her head against the pillow and shut her eyes in an effort to get some sleep.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby Rose surveyed the town from her rooftop perch, the night as her cover she, totally looked like a super hero… yeah… she was cool.

Ok so maybe she looked a little silly hunched over an empty balcony like some kind of creepy kind trying to be cool… on the upside; at least the rain had stopped;the shattered moon giving washing the town in a white glow.

From her vantage point, Ruby could see all she needed and as much as she didn't like to admit it. Amber had been right not to worry, the only thing dangerous here was the rats in the gutter and the smell of the pipes.

Luckily if there was any trouble she had the perfect sniper spot… now that she thought about it, it could be a good idea to restock on ammo; there was a dust shop that looked like it was still open just a few blocks away, she was always chastised when she ran out on the road.

Ruby took one last look around before sliding down the roof, probably waking up somebody in the process; she really needed to work on her stealth. Uncle Qrow always made it a point to make fun of her about it: said she had the sneaking skills of a drunken Goliath.

Her landing was good enough so she'd ignore it for a little while, besides there wasn't anyone out at this time of night so she was in the clear.

In mere moments Ruby had approached the entrance of the dust shop From Dawn Till Dust (she couldn't tell if it was a pun or not but either way it upset her for some completely unknown reason that was probably insanely irrational) Ruby pushed that aside as she walked in and was greeted by a balding old man at the counter.

She walked up with a little wave. "Uh… hi, you have dust for guns right? The heavy recon type?"

The old man nodded and pointed to an area off to the right.

Ruby smiled her thanks, picking up a weapons magazine as she went. Of course Ruby could never admit it but she had been told that she had perhaps an unhealthy obsession with weapons, so after seeing the first few pages she realized she'd be there a while.

So she fished a pair of headphones out of her bag and placed them on her head as she flipped through the magazine, drowning the outside world with music.

Ruby bobbed her head along to the music contently, scanning through the plethora of arms while simultaneously comparing them to her own… with that though in mind, Ruby began to wonder how she could improve not only Crescent Rose but Ambers staff: yes it could hold two dust crystals that allowed the use of two different elements but apart from that and the obvious melee uses of a staff there was nothing really going for it.

At least Ruby's weapon had a pretty big range as well as some gnarly cutting power… did people use the word 'gnarly' anymore?

Well, anyway, Ruby's Scythe was good against the countless fodder of Grimm. Even if it did have problems with anything even remotely armoured… maybe she'd get a sword modification like Uncle Qrow, now that would be cool or she could get something even better! Maybe a-

 _Tap tap._

Ruby blinked and turned to the person trying to get her attention: a guy with black shades and a suit of the same colour that altogether _screamed_ thug. Although that could also be accomplished by the red sword pointed at her.

But she at least wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt; maybe he just wanted to be friends and thought showing off his sword was the best way to do it, Uncle Qrow said that it was what some guys did. Although with her Uncle there was probably some hidden meaning behind it that she wasn't getting…

Anyway! Making friends, right. Maybe he was just being nice.

"Can I help you?" Ruby asked as she took off her headphones.

"I said to put your hands in the air. Now!"

Ruby blinked, before deflating slightly. So much for wanting to be nice. "Are… you robbing me?"

"Yeah I am, you can start by handin' overany lien you got."

The

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're going to steal moneyfrom a fifteen year old girl?"

"Doesn't matter none how I get cash," the thug grunted. " now hand it over or I'll have to get rough."

"…huh."

She didn't blink as she kicked the guy the in the chest, her deceptively small frame housing enough strength to send the man flying back. Only for another guy in identical clothing to turn the corner in time to see his buddy hit the floor. The new guy pulled out a gun and pointed it at the girl.

Ruby dashed forward faster than the eye could see, she ducked under his extended arm and pressed her palms against his chest; normally this would have been ineffective at doing pretty much anything to the guy, but at the speed she was moving she smashed into the man with enough force to send him through the window.

A red-haired man with a bowlers cap peeked his head around the front counter to look at the commotion as she leaped out the window too.

Ruby didn't know who this guy was, but he felt dangerous. He looked relaxed but something about him screamed danger. He wore the previously mentioned bowlers hat and a long white trench coat. He had a black cane at his side. His weapon obviously.

He frowned, taking out his cigar and tapping the burning stick as ash fell to the ground. "Alright little red, mind telling me what you're doing to my associates?"

Ruby didn't answer, instead reaching for a small red box that began to transform as soon as it reacted to her aura. The girl in red stood up as the sound of machine parts whirled and the mechanism expanded in her hand, bit by bit; in less than a second, the box had transformed into a terrifying crimson scythe. The wicked blade on top was silver steel that shone in the moonlight, hauntingly promising her foes pain.

With a heavy thud the weapon crunched into the pavement, the cracks forming showed just how heavy it was, and how deceptively strong the young girl was once again.

However the man with the cane remained unfazed by the show. Doing nothing but gesturing to his men, but when they didn't move he sighed. "I can't believe I have to say this; _get her!"_

The nameless thugs were shook out of their daze, charging at the girl all at once, swords raised with clearly deadly intent.

Not for ruby though, in fact they left openings so obvious that she only had to lean back to avoid the first swipe.

In an instant she was on the move. Ruby gripped her scythe with both hands and spun, pivoting on her right heel to bring the shaft round. The first man was close enough that he missed the sharp bit, but that didn't do much to change the outcome. The heavy weapon slammed into his side, the sound of rips cracking could be heard as she was launched into the air, so fast that when he collided with one of the street laps the other two attackers hadn't even realized he was gone.

A blur of red shot forward, staying low to the ground and straight into the next unfortunate man. Ruby struck his stomach with the pommel of her scythe, sending him back a few metres into his friend.

Not wasting any time she lunged at them, missing by a fraction as the two of them rolled in opposite directions and scrambled to their feet.

The teen didn't even flinch as the supposed mistake. She shifted her grip and pulled a trigger on the shaft of her weapon; the blade had buried itself in the ground, so as a bullet shot out and unleashed a recoil strong enough to send someone without their two feet planted on the ground flying, Ruby instead flipped into the air, a second shot sent her spinning, and her foot connected with one of the men's face, the sound of his nose breaking was clear as he sank to the ground out cold.

The last man tried to hit her from behind, thrusting the red sword at her back. He blinked in confusion behind his shades as he saw the thin shaft on the scythe blocking his attack, and the girl holding the weapon in a backwards grip.

He didn't even see the kick coming, and then he was out cold like the others.

The leader of the thugs sighed harder this time as he watched the girl knock them down like bowling pins. "Of course, this is what I get for hiring second-rate lackeys. You were a disappointment, truly you were."

Ruby aimed the scythe at him now, waiting for his next move. The red headed ctook twirled his cane and gave her a one-over glance.

"Well little red this _has_ been entertaining but I'm afraid our time is up. I'd rather not wait for the police to show up."

He pointed his cane at her, the bottom opening up and a bright light was blasted at Ruby.

At a speed no one without proper training could achieve she jumped into the air, the projectile slipping under her.

The words slipped out before the though had registered fully in her mind.

"Oh crud!" she yelled as a second dust bullet came towards her in mid-air. This one she couldn't dodge, her momentum carrying her too much to make any major changes in trajectory. A simple trick she hadn't expected. This man had some kind of training; clearly.

The bullet… crashed into a wall of stone?

Ruby landed back on the ground and turned to see Amber sprinting towards them. Her hand extended. It was clear to both of them she'd just saved Ruby's neck.

The thanks would come later however, as she saw the robber climbing a ladder up one of the buildings out the corner of her eye.

Ruby hopped onto her scythe and pulled the trigger, the power of the gun sent her rocketing upwards into the air, another shot sent her even higher and a final one managed to get her on top of the roof.

"Freeze!" she ordered the thief. She was actually surprised when he did.

"You're a persist little girl aren't you? Well sorry but I've got better thing to do than play, so this'll have to be the end of your little meeting."

On que an airship rose from behind him from where it was concealed in the streets below. The doors opened and the man hopped in.

"Bye, bye red!" he shouted to her as he tossed a red crystal at her feet. Ruby's eyes widened as it began to glow. The thief pointed is cane at it and fired.

But once again Ruby was saved, this time by a magical barrier. She blinked as a blond woman stood in front of her with her weapon extended, a… riding-crop.

Not wasting any time the newcomer unleashed a flurry of attacks in the form of rubble from the destroyed section of the roof, sending it back like a storm at the aircraft.

Ruby joined in as well, her scythe transforming into a gun as she fired at the hull of the ship. Unfortunately for them this seemed ineffective, and the moment was lost as the airship peeled away from the combat, too far and too fast for either to pursue.

Ruby let out a breath she'd been holding. Behind her Amber had finally made it up the ladder, falling to her hands and knees her breath was laboured from the climb. Her glared heatedly at the girl in red before sighing.

"Just going out to scout? Really?"

Ruby opened her mouth to rely when the blond woman made herself a part of their conversation. Her arms were crossed and she had a look that said she was clearly _not_ amused.

"Do you have anything to say for this…? Ruby?"

The teen scratched the back of her head.

 _"Well…"_

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby and Amber sat together, looking down dejectedly as they were given a stern lecture by a teacher, and old friend… well, for Ruby at least, Amber had never seen her before so… it was probably a little bit awkward for her.

Glynda Goodwitch paced back and forth in front of them. At the moment they were having a private conversation within a police holding cell; for privacy reasons of course.

"I can't believe you too," Glynda fumed. "Not only did you try to apprehend a wanted criminal and put your lives at risk, but you endangered a civilian and created property damage reports that I have to deal with."

Um, Miss Goodwitch?" Ruby tried.

"And do you know how much this is going to cost us? The paperwork will be mountains high when considering the compensation!"

"But Miss-"

Goodwitch slammed her hands on the table, but instead of anger there was desperation. _Do you realise how much paperwork I have to do now?!"_

"But Miss!" Ruby pleaded. "You were the one that caused all that damage! We barely did a thing."

It was true. While Ruby might have broken a window and made a few holes in the ground, Glynda had used large pieces of rocks and fired them into the air. The ones that hit fell to the ground below afterwards and cracked the pavement and the one that didn't… broke so many windows Ruby was sure the woman had broken a record of some kind.

Glynda slumped in defeat and sighed. After a moment she shook her head, composed herself and smiled slightly. "Well, whatever the case you were able to get in contact with us again, and you were close enough that both of us were able to come and see you."

Amber looked slightly confused, while Ruby perked up significantly with excitement. The door behind the female huntress opened up and a man with hair too grey for his age walked in: he wore a black suit of sorts, with a green scarf. In one hand he held a mug of coffee and in the other a plate of cookies.

Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy smiled. "Well hello Miss Rose. So nice of you to drop by." He joked lightly as he slid the plate of treats over to them.

Without hesitation Ruby dug in, greedily inhaling the delights as if they would disappear if she didn't. Amber on the other hand didn't look as relaxed.

"Ruby! What are you doing? Those things probably have some kind of drugs in them or…"

The younger girl waved her off. "Don't worry," she said in-between chewing. "Ozpin's a cool guy, he's the one I told you about, remember?"

The maiden blinked. "This is your boss? The leader of the brotherhood?"

"The brotherhood, inner circle, the Ozluminati, whatever you want to call it."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow but said nothing on the comment (while none of those were entirely wrong their group didn't actually have an official name, so Ruby had taken the liberty of making up her own), instead turning to Amber directly and sitting down. "So, Amber Autumn… what is it you've heard of me from our adorable Grimm reaper?"

The tanned girl thought for a moment. "Well… I know that you know about the maidens, and that you keep them a secret from the rest of the world to stop panic." Ozpin nodded, keeping silent to let her continue.

"I also know that you want to keep me safe from whoever it is trying hunt me and hurt everyone, and that you're extremely powerful."

Ozpin shrugged. "I prefer to stay humble; it keeps you alive longer… anything else?"

Amber straightened up. "I-I know that you've had Ruby under your tutelage for a while, and that you sent her to keep tabs on me."

He leaned back in the chair, taking a sip of his coffee. "That… is not entirely true, to be honest it was supposed to be another associate of mine but they were traveling together, she got to you first… perhaps for the better."

He looked both of the girls in the eyes. "But now I think it's time we got to business: You, Miss Autumn to put it plainly are in need of protection, and there is no better place that I can think of that Beacon Academy, should you accept out help. We will attempt to aid you in any ways available to us and help nurture you powers." He turned to the younger girl "Also… Ruby…"

"Yes Professor Ozpin?"

"I think you're ready."

In an instant Ruby was out of her seat, inches away from his face with a massive smile on her own. "Really!?"

He smiled. "Yes, but we should do this a bit more formally. "Ruby Rose, would you like to be accepted into Beacon Academy two years early? To be a part of this year's group of young aspiring Huntsmen and huntresses?"

" _Yes!"_

"Well alright then."

Ruby squealed with excitement much to the amusement of the other people in the room before turning to Glynda.

"Did you hear that Miss? Looks like you're gonna be teaching me how to be a huntress! Don't worry though, I'll try not to be so awesome as to outshine the other students."

Goodwitch chuckled in amusement. "We will see Miss Rose, you may have experience but the other students will be older than you, have read more about the more theoretical parts of being a huntsman… not to mention that Beacon only accepts the best."

Ozpin whistled innocently to himself for some reason.

The blond continued. "I expect you to try your best Ruby, then maybe one day you will be a real huntress."

Ruby's grin sparkled. "You can count on it!"

They were heading to beacon.

* * *

…

…

* * *

 **So there you have it the first chapter and right away some things are obviously different. What did you think of it? Good? Bad?**

 **Let me know.**

 **If you did like it be sure to follow, favorite and review. I'd love to hear your thoughts.**

 **Anyway, that's all I have to say right now.**

 **Bye!**


	2. Prologue: White (Redux)

Throughout the world, there are thousands, millions of people, each with their own wants, needs and desires. This is true for families also, and through the millennia the children of dust have fought for their own ideology; be it rights, freedom or truth.

However… this same fact is the same for the much darker aspects of Dust. People, in their darkest moments may want nothing more than a disillusioned sense of power and wealth, or the destruction of those they despise.

Whatever the case, the children of dust are once again at odds with their kin, for they view each other as entirely different species: Human… and Faunus.

For some humans, the idea of this conflict has brought nothing but strife over the years, and yet still it rages. However that is not the focus of many people's life.

People seem to miss the irony of what dust has done in this modern age: it is what they came from; it is what they use for virtually everything from technology that allows them to flourish to the weapons that destroy them.

In the most poetic way, Dust is both the life and death of the people no matter what part of the world.

And throughout the whole world, there is one family that has gained both its reputation and standing from Dust.

The Schnee Dust Company.

An organisation founded not long before the modern age, mining the substance from the earth to be used for the betterment of everyone. According to them at least.

But whether to not this was true was not a concern of the head of the Schnee family: Jacques Schnee, a powerful and steadfast businessman, who was instead focused on preparing the next heir-

"Focus Weiss!"

A young girl groaned internally as she was shoved back by the back of a blade.

Two females stood opposite each other in a massive and otherwise empty room, the marble structure giving the impression of iciness.

The older of the two –Winter - had white hair that was tied up into a bun, draping down the right side of her face and light-blue eyes that gave off a clear sense of calm collectedness. Her attire was that of an atlas specialist, that gave her the aura of superiority… or that might have been her actual aura.

The younger of the two would be the next heiress of the family, Weiss Schnee. Her own snow-like hair was tied in a long ponytail that fell down to her back and the same blue shade of eyes as her sister. Her own outfit was that of a simple white combat skirt and tall heels.

Winter rushed forward, a sabre in hand as she struck out at Weiss. But the heiress was by no means defenceless, raising her rapier to meet the onslaught.

Sparks flew as steel met clashed. Winter took a step forward, locking the blades and staring down at her struggling sister.

Weiss glared up and gritting her teeth as her arms shook from the effort to hold her sister at bay. In that moment the chamber of her sword shifted to red as fire burst from the point.

Winter jumped back, shielding her eyes from the light and weathering the heat.

Weiss let a smile grace her face as she lunged at the opening, releasing a flurry of precise attacks that cut through the air. She let out a victorious cry as she came close to striking her enemy.

Only to pass through empty space.

She let out an unintelligent grunt as her world was flipped and the breath rushed from her lungs.

In the instant her attack had missed Winter had slipped into her guard; moving behind her, caught her body between her right arm and leg and swept Weiss' feet from under her. She crashed to the ground with a painful thump.

There was a moment of silence before Weiss rolled onto her front and raised herself to all fours. A hand came in to view, her sisters, in an offer to help her up. She took it thankfully and brushed herself of some invisible layer of dust.

"That was an admirable attempt Weiss but your guard needs work, as well as your power."

She rolled her eyes. "It would have been different if you'd let me use my glyphs."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "That would take too long without someone to defend you."

"It would only have taken a few seconds."

Winter hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, a few seconds… the difference between life and death in a real battle.

Weiss' shoulders slumped in defeat and nothing more was said on the subject. Both sisters sheathed their weapons and made their way out to the garden of the Schnee estate; a place they could talk without servants listening in.

When they were a sufficient distance from the home, Winter spun on her heels to face her sister, a stern look on her face that made Weiss take an unconscious step back.

"W-what's wrong Winter, is… is there something on my face?" she tried but Winter just shook her head.

"I was going to ask you the same thing Weiss. What is wrong? You have been distracted for the last few days and that will not do. I was able to take leave of my work to see you off to Beacon tomorrow but for most of my time here I have seen you not paying attention. So I ask you, what is wrong?"

Weiss fidgeted as she seemed to find something interesting on her shoes.

"W-well… it's just that… I'm leaving tomorrow, a-and I'll have to meet new people. People who most likely already know who I am… or at least who my family is and… I'm a little nervous."

Winter's face softened and she rested a hand on Weiss's shoulder comfortingly.

"Listen to me, you will be fine. You're more intelligent than I was at your age and you always try your hardest instead of letting money speak for you. You don't need to worry about making friends, just get to know your team and you'll be fine. Ok snowball?"

She hid the embarrassed flush of her cheeks behind an awkward laugh at her nickname but after a moment sighed, looking off in the distance with an angry look in her eye as she played with the hair hanging over her face.

"I bet father has different views on my departure."

Winter blinked, clearly surprised by the sudden mood change. But it was true, their father hadn't been too pleased when she herself had left to join Atlas but had at least kept it to himself when he heard that General Ironwood himself had requested her to work with him.

Weiss had been a different matter entirely. The title of heiress had moved to her when Winter had left and their father had been none too pleased with all the extra grooming he had to go through to prepare her for the task, he'd been hard on her, more than he should have and it had led to Weiss' rebellious nature being more prominent. Then when she had announced she was going to become a huntress.

"I must say, I'm surprised you were able to convince him, I was sure he would be furious."

Weiss flinched slightly; it was a little thing but Winter noticed all the same. She gave her little sister a sharp look.

"What? What are you hiding Weiss?"

The younger Schnee began shuffling, trying to keep her face hidden and she messed with her hair. Only for Winter to grab her wrist and stare at her face closer.

"Is… that make-up?" she asked, a hint of ice in her voice.

This only made Weiss panic even more. She tried to step back but to no avail, forcing her to look the trained fighter right in the eye.

"R-really Winter, it's nothing! I promise." She didn't even sound convincing to herself as her voice cracked.

Slowly, Carefully, Winter rubbed her thumb against the left side of Weiss' face; from above her eye to the bottom. The dread in the Specialists stomach only grew as with each slow movement, the reason for her sister's awkwardness was revealed.

And that dread turned to fury.

"I'll kill him!" she snarled, teeth bore on instinct, she swore. "I'll kill the man!" turning on her heel to stalk towards the mansion, she was stopped by the desperate hand of the young Schnee.

"Wait, please just…"

Her pleas almost instantly cooled the hot fury within Winter. She let out a breath in an effort to control her temper before turning back to Weiss and inspecting the scar that ran down her eye care.

"Does it hurt at all Weiss?" she asked with concern in her voice.

The heiress shook her head. "Not really. It just itches sometimes, that all. It's fine, really."

Another sigh escaped her sister's lips. "You were keeping this hidden specifically from me." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Winter may have seemed cold and distant at a first glance but if there was one thing she cared about it was her sister, even above her professional life as Ironwoods second.

That meant that no matter who it was that hurt her sister; they would pay one way or another. But she wouldn't do it so long as Weiss was like this. The normally defiant girl looked so small at the mere mention of confronting their father.

Winter held the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache form and sighed. It seemed she had been doing that a lot when she came home.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"I…" Weiss hesitated; the memories flooding back with terrifying clarity: Father forcing her to prove herself by fighting an Arma Gigas… it's cold, dead eyes still stared into her soul. She remembered the paralyzing fear at its presence. How she'd fought, and been injured. Weiss remembered winning by the barest of margins and her father reluctantly conceding. Even though he still regarded it as a fool's errand.

She didn't tell her sister this however. The younger girl's eyes glued to the floor. Winter thumbed the bridge of her nose and let out a long sigh.

"Just… go check on your luggage for tomorrow; I'll… have a talk with mother."

Weiss nodded weakly before turning her back on the older woman and slinking back to the estate. She kept her eyes to the ground and completely ignored the servants that called out to her; robotically she made it to her room and shut the door behind her, not bothering to lock it as she sat on her bed and look off in the distance.

From a simple scan of the room it was evident that Weiss was not the most organized person.

At least not at the moment.

There lay clothes scattered around the floor, along with an assortment of dust vials that she hadn't stored away yet.

Well, now was a good a time as any to fix that problem; Weiss walked over to the pile and kneeled down, thanking the fact that she had a lovely rug underfoot to keep her warm. The marble floor tended to be cold sometimes.

The girl let out a low whistle as she moved her hands over the dust vials, talking to herself all the while.

"Let's see here, fire dust with a red engraving check! Ice dust with a white engraving check!"

The mundaneness of the task left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately Weiss didn't have any hobbies, what, with being part of a family with only business on its mind. And for that matter, she didn't really have any friends… did Klein count?

"And what do we have here? Lighting dust with a yellow sticker on it!"

Truly, a sad state of affairs when it came to people.

But despite this Weiss worked away, the lack of thought required for the task was actually rather soothing. It was relaxing in that it was something she could do in her sleep; being the heiress to the dust company and all, yet it was important enough that arranging vials of but didn't irritate her.

It took about twenty minutes to get every piece of dust packed away, the ones she was taking with her and the ones she was leaving behind. Almost right afterwards there was a knock on her door, a slow, three knuckled rap.

"Miss Schnee?" it was Klein. "I'm here to inform you that your brother wishes to speak with you promptly."

She frowned as she made her way to the door and unlocked it, opening up to face the butler. "Couldn't he have just told me that himself?"

Klein smiled. "It would seem that Master Whitley wanted to arrange it as a private conversation, he is waiting for us in the library."

She sighed, but decided to follow anyway, as to not cause too much of a fuss. It would be too much effort anyway.

Weiss had to admit grudgingly that there weren't many places in her home that were… well, homely. The Library wasn't one of them either. The knowledge on the walls lined up, yet seemed to give off an aura as if to discourage people from reading their pages. Shame, there were all manner of stories in them.

Then there was the fact that even for a library, the silence was practically deafening, only made worse when some did speak and their voice echoed for all to hear.

She found her brother, standing in the middle of the room will inspection an old globe.

Her mouth became a thin line.

"Whitley." She nodded, and he smiled at her… strange.

"Ah! Dear sister, it is good that you decided to see me." He said with unusual enthusiasm.

It didn't put her at ease. She crossed her arms and regarded him carefully. "What do you want?" she asked plainly.

If her brother was fazed by her lack of tact he didn't show it, instead smiling at her even more and opening his arms in a friendly gesture.

"Well, I heard that you had a little… dispute with Father earlier and I came to offer you my opinion." He told her without a hint of venom.

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Let me guess; are you going to tell me it's a ridiculous idea and just give up?" Honestly, she didn't want to hear this.

Instead he smiled. "Not at all, in fact I wanted to encourage you to become a Huntress."

She blinked, probably would have stumbled too if she didn't have proper decorum drilled into her from a young age. Whitley on – ignorant to her shock – to explain.

"I believe that you should do what you set out to do: become a Huntress, fight for the people, slay Grimm… maybe even travel a little. If only to uphold the word of a Schnee, it would be seen as weakness if you suddenly backed out of this."

Weiss still wasn't convinced. "What's your angle Whitley? You would never disobey Father."

That smile was still on his face… it was starting to irk her.

"Father doesn't see the advantage of allowing you to do this by yourself. It could be a wonderful opportunity to… grow. You would come back after learning _so_ much about the world and that could help this company in many ways. Simply put there is no reason for me to be against your desire to be a Huntress."

That… was a better answer than she had hoped for. Especially from her brother… but there was still one problem; her father's determination to prevent her from going to Beacon. Weiss told Whitley this.

He shrugged. "Why don't you leave father to me? I'm sure I can persuade him to be lenient with you this once. I suppose you will owe me for it won't you?"

She nodded, finding no flaw in his logic.

"I suppose," she conceded. "Thank you Whitley, this means a lot to me."

He paused for just a second, his expression becoming something else for only an instant before he smiled again.

"Of course Weiss, I am just glad to be helping my big sister. Now you best go back to your room and prepare everything. I'm sure it will be very… exciting."

Weiss' shoulders relaxed as she nodded one last time before turning and walking out of the Library, the brief conversation finished. She was going to Beacon to be a Huntress and bring honour to her family.

She really was.

...

* * *

 **Well that's the second chapter fixed up. If you're looking for references on what I used I looked into the RWBY Manga, which does a better job at explaining just what was going on in the White Trailer. Spelling mistakes are fixed as far as I can tell but feel free to call me out on it if you see any.**

 **Anyway, if you liked what you read be sure to Follow for updates and if you have anything to say be sure to Review. I reply to all of them and really enjoy the conversation.**

 **Hope you have a good day.**

 **Bye!**

 **S.**


	3. Prologue: Black (Redux)

**Third chapter, and a mention of our favourite animal people.**

 **Let's see how it goes!**

 **…**

* * *

When man first appeared from the creations of dust, it was alone. A single entity with the desire to live, grow and thrive. For a century that is exactly what it did, fighting back against the onslaught of Grimm, in many cases down to the last man. And when the humans wielded dust… well… this story is already known.

Strangely though, it seems that no one is entirely sure where the second race of dust came from; a sun species if you will. Or perhaps they came first. Those gifted with the features of their animal counterparts, or cursed with their blood.

The Faunus. A people with an origin shrouded in mystery even to themselves, but with a strength and cunning that aided mankind in their quest to be free from the fangs of the Grimm. And so eventually, they became a part of mankind. For a while.

Unfortunately, within all humans lies envy. To their fellow man they can learn to control it to some extent, rather than hate they feel jealousy towards those better off than them, and usually it stopped at that.

But with something that could not be considered entirely man. That hate envy would fester and grow into something much more horrible: Hate.

Through the years the Faunus had become stronger than humans, despised by many for their differences yes but it did nothing to stop them developing their own ways of life.

However this progress was destroyed when the Great War began. Despite what many might think the aftermath was not clean. The four kingdoms may have come together for the sake of peace. But that excluded the Faunus in a dangerous way.

Hate and distrust grew even more.

Then when the Faunus was offered a small continent to the south, they thought they had some measure of equality within their grasp. But it was not to be; more than half the country was uninhabitable by Faunus kind.

It was a laughable excuse by humanity to try and push them as far away as possible. But there was one thing they didn't take into account: when like-minded people are forced together, something will grow from it. And so, on the continent of Menagerie, the white fang was born.

At first they were a peaceful thing, dedicated to giving the same rights to Faunus as humans had. However for some people the peaceful approach was not enough, and after pressure, the original leader stepped down, giving way for a new way of doing things.

For these people, Violence was the only option.

And so what people have come to dread as the White Fang seized power from its predecessors, and a young girl sees it as her chance to make a difference.

How humorous, for a little girl to think that hate and violence, can be erased by the very same thing.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake took a breath, then another one. In, out, in, out as the floor trembled under her and she reached for a support.

The wall beside her was useful for that, there wasn't anywhere else to reach for anyway. At leastt when there were this many people packed together; there were twelve of them in total, members of the White Fang stood in the cargo hold of a dropship. Something they'd 'borrowed' from the military.

The floor shook again and Blake tried not to stumble. What was the pilot doing? It couldn't be that hard to fly this thing could it.

The Faunus girl craned her neck to see over the other members In front of her; none of them were talking, and it felt as if it would be a bit awkward if she broke the silence.

Someone nudged her elbow and she blinked out of her thoughts. Turning to a red-haired bull Faunus. Adam Taurus gave his pupil a concerned look. It was strange; one of the leading authorities of the White Fang in Vale had kept her around to teach her from time to time. Or maybe it was stranger that he had gone on this mission. It was only a standard hit and run right? A few of them went in, steal from one of the mines promoting Faunus labour and then bring it down.

Since when did that need so much muscle?

"Are you alright?" he asked her simply.

"Y-yeah, I… I'm just a little bit tired." Blake lied. It wouldn't look good if she told him she was having second thoughts, what good would she be to the cause if she couldn't even help with this?

The redhead said nothing more as the alarms inside the cargo hold began to blare and the ship shook once again. A voice came in from the intercoms.

 _"Warning for all brothers of the White Fang; Atlas military has been stationed at the outpost and have spotted us, they've started firing, prepare for deployment!"_

Blake's eyes widened. Now? They were dropping now that they knew there'd be a fight? Were they even equipped to fight Atlas right now?

She didn't get to voice her concerns as the door began to lower, Blake squinted as light poured in and wind rushed in like a gale. There was a signal from one of the men up front and suddenly they were jumping, she watched as Adam followed without a second thought. She hesitated, only for a fraction of a second but it was all that was needed.

Just as Blake dived out of the cargo hold something hit the ship, and it erupted in a blast of flame. She suppressed a scream as the shockwave collided with her back, sending her reeling in mid-air. Spinning and spinning, tumbling and tumbling.

The girl grit her teeth as the clouds; so high up, rushed past her. The blades of the ship crashed past her, in a hellfire of smoke and twisted metal.

Her mind worked at a mile a minute, Blake reached for Gambol Shroud and unwrapped its ribbon. There was a spark as the gun fired, propelling the blade upwards as she held on. There wasn't much in the way of things to grab onto, except for what was left of the ship falling above her.

It would have to do.

The black blade sunk into steel and the ribbon tightened as Blake fall further. She braced herself as it elasticated, the material stretched for a moment, before Blake was propelled up as if on a bungee.

This came not a second too soon, the manoeuvre slowing her descent just enough so that the landing was not fatal. Still, Blake hit the ground uncomfortably as she stumbled forward. There was no time to rest; bullets flew above her head and metal was still falling from the sky.

She dived for what little cover was available. There, Blake managed to catch her breath; she pushed Gambol Shroud back into its sheath and peeked her head over the cover:

For it to immediately be in danger of being shot off. It was fine though; Blake had got what she was looking for; about five dozen Atlesian knights guarding a building, some kind of office no doubt.

Blake's ears twitched as Adam skidded to a halt in the dirt beside her. His red hair was covered in dust, dirt and oil. He ducked as the cover slowly began to erode under the hail for bullets.

He turned to Blake.

"We need to get in there! Listen, I'll lay down some covering fire and you slip past them."

"Then how will you get in?" Blake yelled over the roaring of fire.

"Just Go!"

She didn't have time to argue as he shoved her roughly forward. As not to fall over Blake used her momentum to sprint forward. Behind her, Adam showed himself, firing a shotgun-shell into a group of walking tin cans.

She split her weapon in two, using the sheath as a makeshift shield as she weaved through the clumsy machines. The hunks of metal were cleaved apart by her Katana like-

There!

For barely an instant there was an opening in the sea of steel. Blake dived for the scape as a blade came down on her.

And passed right through her clone.

The faunas rolled through the open door and slammed it behind her, barely in time to stop the dust projectiles from taking her head off.

And then there was silence.

Blake let herself slide down the door, her breath was laboured and adrenaline was pumping from just that single encounter. She could hear the fighting outside as the two groups fought. Shaking her head clear, Blake stood up; she was in, now all she had to do was destroy the communications most likely located in this building, and with the Knights fighting outside, it was probably poorly defended.

With that thought in mind, Blake set off in a jog down the hallways, hopefully in the right direction. The interior looked mostly the same; a militant grey, but every so often, Blake would see a snowflake engraved onto a surface

The symbol of the Schnee.

Of course they had something to do with this, they just had to own every dust mine they could get their hands on didn't they?

But that didn't matter. Now wasn't the time to get distracted; fortunately, Blake's enhanced eyes caught sight of a door: one far more heavily fortified than the rest, made from steel and bolted shut. There was no way she was going to be able to open it.

But that was the funny thing. She didn't need to use the door.

Blake reached into her pockets and fished out a handful of red crystals: Fire Dust, highly explosive. She took a breath, to calm herself, and threw them at the door.

It was comical how easy the metal barrier caved in. a small dust cloud formed in front of her, blocking her vision.

It was in that second that her body tensed. Within the cloud she could see a shadow, a humanoid figure holding a handgun. Did they have Atlas drones inside too?

Without waiting for it to act she lunged forward, tackling the thing to the ground. There was a yelp of pain, but not from her. She blinked as the dust cleared to see a young man underneath her; barely older than her with a fearful expression on his face.

They weren't alone: there was a cry of fear in front of her. Blake looked up and froze. There was a group of humans, both men and women, huddled against the wall in terror.

How must she look to them? Kneeling over one of them with a sword to their throat, like a monster, like an animal.

"I…"

Whatever she'd planned on saying was forgotten as Adam entered behind her. The bull faunas paused at the sight before nodding.

Blake got the meaning; she crawled of them man and walked over to the side, where a desk was set. Opening each drawer, she pulled out the documents. It was all on paper. Smart, scrolls could be hacked, but the only way to steal information like this was to physically steal it. They'd got what they came for. She said as much to Adam.

"Good," he replied, catching the transcripts as she tossed them to him. He glanced at the human's once before turning around. But as he left…

"Make sure you deal with them Blake, we can't have any witnesses here."

She froze. What?

He… wanted her to kill them, in cold blood?

"But…" her throat was dry. "Couldn't we just leave them here?"

Adam stopped mid-stride before spinning to glare at Blake. She shrank under its intensity.

"What? Do you expect me to let them live? They've seen us Blake, not only that, but they work for the Schnee's. I don't intend to show mercy like that, especially not to humans."

He glared at them. "The airships going to be leaving soon. Hurry up so we can go."

She swallowed, nodding feebly and turning to them. Gambol Shroud transforming into a gun again. She pointed it at the head of the closest person. The woman cowered in fear. Blake couldn't blame her. If she was trembling so much from just holding the gun to her head, how must it feel to have it pointed at you?

Blake struggled to keep herself together. She needed to do this! They were humans, not Faunus. They worked for a corrupt organization that worked her kind to death, they deserved this.

Didn't they?

She would have said yes in any other circumstance. But watching this woman, as well as the others in the corner weep and beg for their lives spoke to her in a way she found extremely unpleasant.

This was wrong. They might be humans but they weren't evil. And here she was about to execute someone mercilessly.

"Come on!" Adam growled, irritated at her hesitation.

Her mind screamed at her to stop. To flee or maybe even to help them escape. It was the right thing to do. It was what anyone with a backbone would do, be brave and save these innocent people.

But… Blake wasn't brave. Was she? Here she was, trembling at the mere idea of actually doing what every other White fang member had done. Hadn't she signed up for this? Hadn't she known that sooner or later she would have to spill blood?

Of course she had. But Blake had always thought it would be the blood of some evil villain, or a slaver. Not office workers who didn't know any better.

A brave person would stop this. But Blake was a coward who ran from her fears.

And so…

She pulled the trigger.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake watched with narrowed eyes as people passed her in the alleyway. They most likely didn't even know she was there. The Faunus had done a good job of hiding herself. Even though she wore a bow atop her head to cover her ears. It was a safety precaution, necessary if she was to interact with people in this town.

But for the most part Blake stayed out of view. It was because she wanted to be stealthy. Defiantly. It clearly didn't have anything to do with the fact that it was raining and the water made her hair go all fuzzy.

Defiantly not.

Gambol Shroud was in clear view, scaring away anyone who thought they could rough her up a little.

Blake pulled her coat – a heavy white one with a high collar – up around her face and stepped out of the ally. People didn't pay her more than a second glance as she crossed the street to the store that was about to close.

Tukson's Book Trade.

She smiled at that. This was a place she had frequently visited over the past few months; a place to read in peace and think about things.

The bell rang as she opened the door, and the shopkeeper – Tukson himself – turned and smiled at her.

"Ah! Blake, good to see you again, are you here to pick up an order?"

She nodded lightly and gave him a polite smile. She skimmed through some of the books on the shelves absentmindedly.

'Home to every book under the sun'

Blake would have laughed at that were she someone else. It was a rather bold boast and yet, it suited Tukson.

She approached the counter as the other faunas reached under it.

"Here you go," he said upon standing back up. "The man with two souls; pristine and signed by the original author. It was a little difficult tracking this thing down you know?"

Blake nodded thankfully.

He continued as the book was handed over. "You'll also be glad to hear that right now there's no, ahem, Fang activity in the area."

Another nod, this time more serious. It was always a great risk for Tukson to bring her this information. After all, he had been the one to help her get out of the organization, and since he was still technically a part of the Fang he was able to keep her updated on their movements… and how to under the radar.

It proved to be a big help when Blake decided to… settle into Vale.

Tukson seemed to notice how she was lost in thought. However he didn't seem to know what it was about. So instead of just standing there in silence he sighed and began putting things away, conversing while he did.

"So, what do you plan do doing from now on? I mean, despite the fact that I like having you around it normally means you're here for something else."

Blake looked away. "You already know why I'm in Vale Tukson."

The faunas visibly winced. "Still pining to be a Huntress are we?"

"Tukson I-" she began, only for him to stop her.

"Yeah I know; you want to become a Huntress so you can change things. I suppose it's admirable in a way… defending the people from Grimm and stopping crime, but personally all I see it as is a way to die faster."

He turned to her again.

"I know that Hunters are supposed to be the people who protect us from the Grimm but in my own experience… they've all just been people who take what they want, kill a few things and expect to be praised and worshipped for it. If hunters were really the saviours we all expect them to be, then why does the White Fang exist in the first place?"

Blake's mouth formed a thin line. Not only from the incorrect terminology of Huntsmen and Huntresses.

"Maybe that was what Huntsmen were like in the past, but if people lose faith in the ones that actually want to make a difference then what hope do we have?"

Tukson went quiet at that, unable to come up with a response. Perhaps that was for the best.

Blake sighed; she had been doing that a lot lately.

"Thank you for the book Tukson, this will be the last time a see you for a while… stay safe."

"Yeah," he responded gruffly. "You too Blake."

The girl nodded one last time, pulled up her coat and turned to leave but right when she got to the door she paused. Not looking back, she gave one final farewell.

"Goodbye."

And she walked out into the rain.

She hated that she'd left like that… but it was poetry in a way.

It had been the same way she'd left Adam.

* * *

…

…

 **And there we go. A little bit of a change in Blake's backstory than canon but I think this works well with what I'm going for in the future, what that is, you'll have to wait and see.**

 **Still kind of short but again, this is just a prologue.**

 **Anyway; Follow Favourite and Review. I'd like to get your thoughts on this story so far.**

 **BYE!**


	4. Prologue: Yellow (Redux)

In this world when people are questioned on the souls of humanity and Faunus alike, most mention the thing that drives them as an individual. This could mean many things, from their fears and hatreds to their aspirations and goals.

For most people these aspirations and goals come in many different forms, from glory for themselves, honour for their families or protecting others…but those are simply the best of them; the ones that people always like to see in themselves to feel better about their choices.

Unfortunately, the one that suits many people is passion. It is negative for many reasons but the one people can recognize in another person first is selfishness. Doing something for your own gain and pleasure without thinking of anyone else.

An example of these kinds of people would be those who seek the simple thrill of it all.

And so on a day that to many people, would hold no significance, a young woman spends her last day of relative freedom in vale.

The woman in question is sitting hunched over a bar; her head down and a drink with a little umbrella held in her hand lazily. She has bright blond hair that draped down past her waist.

To someone with modest tastes her clothing could have been considered scandalous; with high-cut shorts and a very prominent amount of her cleavage showing. Not that she cared what people thought of her, especially in her half-drunk state.

The girl was known as Yang Xiao Long; blond badass, soon-to-be huntress-in-training and destroyer of clubs.

Mainly just this one. For some reason she kept coming back despite the owners protests.

"Hit me with another one junior!" she slurred. The bartender and owner grumbled to himself as he prepared his customer a drink.

"You know blondie, if I get caught serving you this stuff I could get shut down… you are a minor."

Yang just grinned at him. "And you also know that these drinks are the only thing keeping me from goin' to the cops about all the men you employ to help wanted criminals right?"

Junior huffed, actually it could have been a laugh of some kind. "You had a bad day?"

The teenager groaned to herself. "More like a bad week; between the relapses, guys coming on to me and my dad complaining about me going to beacon _again_ it hasn't been fun."

The older man raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, about that… when do you head off again? Tomorrow right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, you'd think it would be kinda late to back out now, but my old man doesn't see it… wait a minute… what are you looking so happy about?"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Junior contradicted but the smile on his face told yang otherwise.

"Aww are you that happy to see me go? I don't think my heart can take it." Yang moaned melodramatically.

Junior rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. On the flipside it gave someone else the time to add their own two-lien.

"Well can you really blame him? If you ask me you cause nothing but trouble."

Yang scoffed as Melanie of the Malachite twins sat down beside her and reached for her own drink. The girl was dressed in her usual white dress, her bladed heels signalling that she was still technically on duty. But that didn't really matter when the current biggest threat to her boss was sitting and having a conversation with him.

"I mean, you almost every time you come here either one of our patrons get hurt or you break something that we have to pay for." Melanie pressed.

Yang shrugged good naturedly. "Well what can ya do? Some people just need sense knocked into em' and for the record, if you don't want to pay for broken glass then make it bullet proof."

Junior sighed. "Listen Yang, if you're leaving tomorrow then maybe you should get a good night sleep, try to get some rest and prevent a really bad hangover." The man said it not only for her own safety but for his; if this girl was ever in a bad mood he was normally on the receiving end of it… or at least his wallet was.

Melanie inspected her nails as she spoke. "Besides once you join up you'll be killing those Grimm right? You could probably take out your stress on them if you wanted to."

Yang raised an eyebrow in her direction. "You speaking from experience or something?"

She shrugged. "Not really, I just know that kicking out people that get a little too handsy can be cathartic."

The blond laughed as she threw back another shot. She got a thought, fishing her scroll out of her pocket and checking the time. Definitely late. Wiping her mouth Yang stood up, dropping some Lien onto the counter and grinning drunkenly.

"See ya Junior! Have fun while I'm gone won't ya?" she slurred as she turned away, stepping towards the exit of the club.

Junior was about to call after her, say something like 'are you she you can make your way home blondie?' when his scroll buzzed. Checking it, he frowned to himself; he turned to Melanie. "Hey, can you hold down the fort for a sec? I gotta take this."

It looked like his problems didn't end with the blondie tonight.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang stumbled out of the club, her head swimming slightly from the alcohol she probably shouldn't have had. But who cared really? She'd just sleep it off.

The young woman made her way over to the other side of the road where her motorcycle; Bumblebee was parked. She didn't bother wearing a helmet as she hopped on and started the ignition.

The vehicle sped forward like a rocket. The wind already wiping at Yang's hair as she took the corners of the town, she didn't know exactly where she was going yet, but it defiantly wasn't to bed.

Car horns blared as she weaved in and out of traffic at reckless speeds. A black and yellow blur to the naked eye.

But Yang had no trouble controlling her back even with drink in her system; the ease in which she passed other drivers was impressive to say the least.

All too soon for her she arrived at her destination; the hotel she'd been staying at for the last week until the ships to Beacon came by tomorrow. Yang didn't even bother with going through the lobby, it was a cheap place so she doubted security would care if she checked back in or not, but she didn't want to talk to anyone right now, so instead she made her way around the side of the building, finding a fire-escape ladder for residents that led up to her own window.

Groggily she climbed the rusted metal, opening her window five floors up with a heave. The woodwork scraping, showing it wasn't always maintained properly. It didn't matter to Yang much; she crawled in and flipped one of the light switches, illuminating the small room.

The place was crummy at best; the plaster on the walls was peeling in some places, the table squeaked when it was used and the oven was pretty old. However personally for Yang the most annoying thing was how the light bulb overhead would flicker every so often, threatening to plunge the room back into darkness.

At least this was the last day she'd see it. She could be happy about that. And she defiantly wasn't paying tips, the service sucked.

But enough of that, right now Yang was feeling up for a bit of a midnight snack! Walking over to the tiny cupboard she pulled out a pot of noodles… a little low on the nutritional value but it was an easy meal. Just some hot water and a spoon.

The water itself took a few minutes to boil, and the whole time Yang leaned against the wall, just staring at the window, last in a sort of daze.

Eventually it was ready, and after a few stirs she sat down at the squeaking table. She blew on it lightly before scooping some it up and taking a bite. She winced. Yeah, these things weren't popular for a reason. But food was food, and Yang had blown most of her money on… other things.

Another great thing about joining Beacon; she'd be able to get food and a good bed without having to worry about the money, as it stood she was kinda, sorta, maybe in a small bit of debt.

Yep, things were kind of hard when you left home without a plan for the year, and after graduating from signal Academy that was exactly what she'd done.

But she could think about her problems some other time, looking at her scroll again she could see it was almost one in the morning.

Yawning to herself, she finished her food and walked into her bedroom.

Closing the door behind her she pulled off her shirt and pants easily, but put on a long vest and a light pair of shorts(it was a little too cold to be sleeping without the stuff) and fell onto her bed, pulling the sheets up around her to sleep.

Yang closed her eyes.

…

…

…

Yet sleep didn't seem to want to come to her. Behind her eyelids there might have been darkness but unconsciousness was just out of her grasp. Although even with her eyes closed the world was tilting slightly, probably from the booze.

Yang would have cursed if she'd had the energy. Why was she so restless all of a sudden?

The blond pulled the sheets closer to her body. Not that it helped. There was a sound from outside her room. Probably some kind of animal… those things tended to lurk about the place when you didn't keep the place clean.

Maybe she could try counting sheep? That always worked right? Wait, no it didn't, it didn't work at all. Yang groaned in defeat and shoved a pillow over her face.

She hated doing this… but it had to be done.

Yang reached into the drawer at her side, moving her hand from left to right until she found what she as looking for; two bottles of pills. She squinted at the labels, making sure she didn't take the wrong one by accident.

There was one for insomnia, and one for depression. Not full on depression thankfully, but every so often Yang would feel so upset she couldn't pull herself out of a runt without the damn things.

Taking a single capsule from the sleeping pills, she threw it back, without water. She winced as it went down, it would take a few minutes to work. Yang really hated the things; it made her feel weak, not just physically. She felt crap when she needed them to help her get through things.

Her Dad hated them too, but he knew she had to take them. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact he had to take care of Yang then he probably would have been on them himself for the past five years.

Probably right after… well… after Ruby left.

Yang… didn't know where her sister had gone, she hadn't seen her or uncle Qrow or her own mom in for the last few years and it just… took its toll on both the blonds.

Ruby had been ten last time Yang had seen her, it wasn't a good day but it wasn't a bad one either. It had been Summer rose's anniversary and Yang had been still processing the knowledge that she had another mother. That her 'real' mother had left her.

Ruby just… didn't come home that night, and Dad had been worried sick. At twelve years old Yang had been old enough to understand that her sister had gone. But they'd found no body, no blood and for some reason Yang _knew_ her sister wasn't dead.

It might have just made it worse in all honesty, it was safe to say that Yang had some abandonment issues she hadn't worked out yet. A year later the depression had set in, and the sleeping problems soon after. The only thing that took Yang's mind off it was excitement. It was one of the main reasons she'd signed up at signal; for the thrill, and the escape. It worked most of the time, but every so often when nothing had happened for a while and she started feeling bored the mood would hit her and the rest of the day would feel like crap.

Her eyes began to droop.

It would be fine though, tomorrow Yang would be going to Beacon, where they teach you to fight monsters, if that wasn't excitement then she didn't know what was!

Yeah, she'd be fine; the pills were beginning to kick in. Her body was feeling a little heavier, not in a bad way at least.

Yang also knew that she was going to be on a team with other hunter and huntresses in training, that could be fun, no chance of it being boring right? She'd just have to wait and see.

Finally, Yang slipped into a deep sleep.

* * *

…

…

* * *

There alarm clock was like a knife threw her brain. Yang groaned in agony as she was awoken from her slumber, groggy eyed and with a splitting headache.

Slowly she pulled herself up into a sitting position, clutching her head with one hand. She really should have had that drink. But it was too late now, and she was paying for it. the only saving grace was that the bedroom had no windows… for some reason and it meant that the sunlight wasn't blinding her.

Oh, and the alarm was still ringing. In anger Yang slammed her fist down, and with a crunch the evil thing was silenced. Yang sank back into the bed and let out another groan of misery.

She glanced at her scroll: it was ten am. Why had the thing been set so early?

…

"Oh crap!" Yang yelled, and immediately regretted it as the knife twisted in her head. She was going to be late for the ships. They left in an hour.

Determinedly Yang rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a thud, before dragging herself to her feet. Ignoring the pain she reached for her clothes, throwing them on without a care if they were clean or not. She managed to get a look in the mirror though, fixing her hair.

"Lookin' good, as always."

Was complementing yourself seen as vanity? Ah what did she care?

Yang reached for her brown coat, and lastly her baby; Ember Celica. The yellow shotgun gauntlets of her own design shining in the light. Clipping the folded versions onto her wrists she made a dash for the door, ignoring breakfast entirely for the danger of being late.

She might make it if she used Bumblebee, but there was an even better way to beat the traffic.

Yang grinned, using the window instead of the door and began to climb upwards, towards the roof of the hotel. She winced slightly as the sun shone into her eyes. Damn hangover.

The morning wind whipped at her hair and she grinned. She extended her arms behind her back and listened as the gears in her gauntlets shifted. She took a breath.

And punched the air.

Yang let out an excited yip as she rocketed into the air, high above the tops of the buildings, she punched again and was pushed dozens of feet forwards onto the next building, where she landed in a roll.

She looked at her fists and rolled her shoulders experimentally before grinning, this could work.

And so was invented what Yang dubbed 'gun travel' where she leaped from building to building like some kind of superhero, far above the unsuspecting populace below. Yang made sure to add a few backflips in there for style points.

Yang blew out a sigh of relief as she saw the airport. The ships hadn't arrived yet, probably still picking people up from other docks around town. She landed at the back of the crowd, with all the chatter about going to Beacon, the few people that did notice her gave only a surprised look or two.

The grin still hadn't left her face as she mingled with the groups. She looked at her scroll; still ten minutes left, gun travel really was awesome. Maybe she should advertise it? But how would it work on the larger scale? Traffic would probably be a lot harder with all the bullets flying around. Oh! Maybe it could be a killer sport instead! She'd pay to see that.

Yang was brought out of her thoughts as a stranger approached her; shadowy figure… shadowy figure, wait! He had a head of green hair, and brown eyes; A weird combination even for her. Why was he trying to talk to her again.?

The stranger smiled. "Hi there! So you're going to Beacon too huh?"

Yang decided to humour him, even as she noticed that he was staring at her cleavage instead of her lilac eyes. That's a dead giveaway dude.

"Yeah, I'm ready to be trained how to take down any sort of monster!" she said with a grin.

The boy smiled, it was obviously fake, but he didn't seem to notice how easily she could tell. He wanted to play that game did he? Alright then.

"So," he went on. "You look like a girl who likes to have fun."

"Like a champ." She replied with fake enthusiasm.

The guy grinned lecherously. "Well then how about after we get to the school, I show you how to have some real _fun."_ He put as much emphasis on fun as he could and Yang just couldn't help herself/ she began to giggle uncontrollably. The guy might have taken this as encouragement if she hadn't bent over and clutched her stomach.

"Hey, what are you-"

Yang stood up straight and gave him a amused look. "Alright that was kind of funny, I mean you tried so hard but you were just _so_ bad. I mean you went straight into the sex didn't you?"

"I… I um-" he floundered.

"Let me give you a tip kiddo, if you're gonna pull something like that then you either need to be in a bar with a tipsy target, which I wouldn't recommend for legal reasons. Or you need to have the smooth moves." She laughed.

"You did it in broad daylight and with so charisma at all. Listen, you made me laugh so I'm going to let it slide, now get out of here. Oh! And one more thing; if you're flirtin' with a girl the try to actually look at their face when you talk to them, K?"

The guy's face was red now, with embarrassment or anger she didn't care.

"Y-you blond bimbo! I ought to-" he tried to reach for her, probably yo save face, maybe rough her up after she stung his pride so much. Yang just leaned back, not really wanting to bother with the k…kid… oh…

In front of her eyes she watched as he took a hold of a single strand of her hair. She saw red, and let the whole universe know that if you touched Yang Xiao Long's hair…

You were totally screwed.

In a single instant, Yang's hair looked as if had actually caught on _fire_ as her eyes turned from lilac to blood red. Her fist connected with his chin, and he was sent skywards, sipping wildly in the air for a moment before he crashed back into the ground. Unconscious.

There were a few disbelieving looks from onlookers, a few took a step back as Yang looked round, calming down she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Well, that was a thing."

The other students wisely decided to ignore her after that.

It was at that moment that a giant shadow was cast overhead, blocking out the sun. Yang looked up at the offender; a massive construct of metal, the ship that was ferrying new students to Beacon had finally arrived.

Slowly it docked and the doors slid open as a ramp was set down by the crew for them to walk up. Yang allowed herself to be swept away by the crowd as they flowed into their ride. With each minute she was grinning more and more.

She looked around. There were already people aboard by the looks of it, probably from the port over or something.

After a few moments of excitement the swarm of people separated into different groups that made their way to different sections of the ship. There was a rather large screen on one side, showing the news.

Yang watched with mild interest as the news anchor; Lisa Lavender, spoke about a robbery last night. Huh… it was on the other side of town, not too far away from Junior's club. Eh, at least it was stopped. There was a mention of some famous thief that had managed to get away but that was about it. Well, at least things in Beacon had the chance to be fun!

Suddenly there was a shift and the screen became the image of a woman with glasses. Yang wondered who she was.

"Hello students, my name is Glynda Goodwitch."

Oh.

"And I would like to welcome you to Beacon. This place is where you will prepare yourself for a life as Hunters and Huntresses. As you have no doubt gathered this is a rare opportunity, and I as well as the staff here are eager to aid you in becoming protectors of this kingdom. At the moment remnant is experiencing an incredible time of piece, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses it will be you duty to uphold it. You have been chosen not only because of your skill but because of your courage. And we here at Beacon welcome you in an effort to use that courage for the greater good."

There was a pause, and Yang noticed even through the hologram how the woman's face seemed to shift from polite… to something else. It was there an instant before it vanished and she was smiling again.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy."

Yang smiled to herself. That was interesting, looked like they were really hyping up this Huntress job. She wondered if-

Yang was interrupted by the sound of someone throwing up their guts. The disgusting noise as someone vomited over the side of the ship brought her attention to the railings, where a blond boy was hunched over.

He was wearing so kind of bare-minimum armour. Not really enough to protect him from anything but who was he to judge. Although he was tall, the whole puking thing really took away from it. Maybe she could go over and ask him why he was being sick. Was he travel sick?

Well, time to find-

Yang was interrupted from her monologue for a second time in five minutes as someone bumped into her shoulder. She scowled as the person stumbled slightly.

"O-oh! Sorry," came the voice. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

The voice was female, their small frame hid under a red hood.

Yang's expression softened and she shrugged. "Eh it's fine, whatever." The girl nodded and moved to turn away. But Yang was in for a little bit of messing. It was only fair. She stepped on the end of the red cape lightly and watched as it was tugged off the girls head.

She snickered for a second, until the girl turned around.

If there was one thing Yang remembered about the woman who had raised her as if she were her mother, it was her most defining physical feature; her silver eyes. And right now they were staring wide eyed back at her. There was only one other person with eyes like that she knew, with hair black with that shade of tinted red.

"Ru…" Yang's voice was barely audible, seemingly deserting her at just this moment. She felt herself shake involuntarily. She forced herself to settle as she swallowed. "Ruby? Is… is that you?"

The smaller girl's eyebrows shot up further as she stared back with her eyes wide, showing off sliver even more.

"Yang? You're… here?"

That confirmation just brought Yang's world down around her, reality seemed to shatter like glass, into a million shards. In this situation there were only two things a person could reasonably respond with; fainting, or getting angry.

Yang took another approach entirely: moving almost instantly she collided with her sister, wrapping her arms around her and burying her head into her shoulder.

Ruby seemed almost just as shell-shocked. She actually hesitated in returning the embrace as Yang held on for dear life, as if she was afraid Ruby would just disappear.

"Ruby," Yang croaked out. "How… how are you here? I… I thought you were…"

Ruby smiled weakly. "I um… I was accepted early into Beacon."

Yang stopped, briefly broke out of her desperate hug to blink and move Ruby back a little, hands still of her shoulders as she looked her sister up and down sceptically. Ruby had been accepted into Beacon too? How?

Her younger sister answered her thoughts almost immediately, smiling wider now. "The headmaster met me in town… we um… had a talk and he let me join."

That just raised more questions in Yang's mind, but before she could voice them a ring sounded out, and Ruby was already moving to the window. Yang followed instantly, eager not to separate from her sister.

Ruby made a noise of joy as she looked out over the city of Vale, and to the school down below. Yang just stared at her sister. Her questions could wait, right now; she just needed to stick with Ruby.

Minutes later the ship had docked and the people filed out. Ruby looked around the school grounds with barely restrained excitement. Already hopping around and gawking at the other students.

"Oh, oh! Look at that! That kid's got a collapsible staff! Oh my gosh! That girl's got a flaming sword!

Yang said nothing, preferring to stare in awe at her newly reunited sister's ecstatic opinion of weapons. Was Ruby just brushing past the whole – just found my sister after five years thing? What was she supposed to do with that?

She spoke up. "Uh, Ruby, don't you think we should talk."

The red head stopped. Turning to face Yang, her face suddenly apprehensive as she nervously inspected her feet. "Right… about that… what, uh, what did you wanna ask?"

Yang wasted no time. "How about where you've been or what happened. You just disappeared and I had no clue where you'd gone!"

Ruby fidgeted more. "It's… it's a little complicated. It was… doing a little bit of travelling."

"Travelling where exactly?" Yang pressed.

"Oh you know, Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo all over the place really."

The blond gawked. "How could you afford that?"

"Um… it was free mostly, I walked."

Yang was now looking at her sister as if she'd said she was secretly a Grimm. And for good reason; travelling by foot was probably one of the most dangerous things you could do, with the Grimm stalking everything outside the cities it was more than a little dangerous.

"You… but how… what?"

Ruby began to sweat. She grabbed her older sisters' hand and smiled nervously. "Look, can we talk about this when we get inside? I don't want to be late." She urged as her pulled her sister along.

Ruby was in such a hurry to not continue that line of conversation that she missed the luggage cart right behind her. She tripped, dragging Yang down with her as suitcases were sent everywhere, and vials of dust fell out.

Ruby and Yang groaned as they lay there in a heap.

There was a gasp if indignation. "What are you doing?!"

Both sisters looked up to see a girl about their size looking down on them; dressed in expensive looking white, with even whiter hair and beautiful blue eyes, or ice depending on how you looked at them.

The girl continued. "Do you have any idea the damage you cloud have caused?" she said as she picked up a vial and pointed it threateningly at the two of them.

Ruby recoiled. "Hey, hey! Be careful with that!"

The ice queen scoffed. "You're telling me to be careful? Do you have any idea what you were doing? You… you dolt!"

Yang suddenly flared up. Standing protectively in front of her sister and glared hotly at the girl, red eyed. The change in colour seemed to shock her for a split second before she glared back with her own icy glare.

"I think you need to step off my sister pal." Yang growled.

The white haired girl was not to be put off. "Or what? Who exactly do you think you're threatening?"

"I think I can answer that." A fourth voice was suddenly added to the mix. The three girls turned to a girl with raven black hair, black clothing and a black bow atop her head. Even her weapon was black, strapped to her back with a ribbon hanging off it. But her eyes were what really drew their attention; they were wild, dangerous, and bright yellow.

The newcomer gave a sickly sweet smile. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company, one of the leaders in dust use all over the world.

The newly introduced Weiss puffed out her chest and smirked. "Well, at least someone knows who their-"

She was cut off as the girls face suddenly shifted. Scowling as her eyes became sharp, and radiated coldness as she glared. "They're also known for their more than controversial labour forces, and shady business deals."

Weiss spluttered in indignation and Yang grinned. Ruby preferred instead to hide her tiny smile behind her hand. It quickly vanished when she could a glimpse of the hostility the new girl was giving out.

The Schnee seemed to have enough, scoffing as she turned to leave, butlers coming to clean up the mess and follow her.

Ruby blinked and called out to her. "I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you!"

There was an awkward pause as the three of them stood their looking at each other. Until Yang calmed down and put her hands on her hips, grinning at the black haired girl.

"Thanks for the backup with ice queen there. You got a name sweetheart?"

The girl looked between them carefully before shrugging. "My name's Blake."

She grinned wider. "Yeah well I'm Yang; you're going to be hearing it a lot round here."

Blake smiled lightly. "If you're like that with knew people all the time then I could guess so."

Yang laughed and nudged Ruby. "Oh I like her! She has sass."

Ruby nodded. "Um… Hi! I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you." She reached out a hand in greeting.

Blake accepted it. "Like wise."

"Um… excuse me?"

Yang groaned again. What now?

They turned to see the boy on the ship from earlier; he was smiling at them as he scratched the back of her head. "Do you girls know where we're supposed to go?"

Yang was about to tell him to buzz off when Ruby stepped forward. "Yeah, you can follow us! What's your name?"

"Wait a minute." Yang said. "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

His shoulders deflated. "Yeah." He said weakly.

Ruby ignored it. "Well vomit boy! Follow us!" she said, making a complete one eighty turn for her previous mood, causing Yang to blink.

She really would have to have a talk with her sister later.

And find out what was going on.

* * *

 **Is it over? oh God my fingers, they burn!**

 **But my agony aside, this is thankfully the last Prologue chapter, everything from here on out will be new... well, somewhat. There's still the main skeleton of the RWBY story but expect that to change immensely.**

 **Anyway; Follow, favorite and Review!**

 **Oh, wait, i need to ask, do guys think I should come up with some cool catch phrase or something? Maybe something to sign off with? Let me know.**

 **BYE!**


	5. Trial By Fire: Part 1

**HIYA! And i'm back, about two weeks from the last chapter so i decided to make this a long one... actually it was longer but I thought it ended in a weird place so I cut this chapter in two and used the second half as a start for the next chapter.**

 **Anyway this is basically a small introduction to the rest of the main cast and sets a basic foundation for our characters. Tension is still strong between Ruby and Yang but you'll soon find out just how bad it is.**

 **there's a note at the bottom that I'd appreciate if you read; so you can give your own opinion on how you want this story to go.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Ruby monitored her own breathing in the silence. Her first day at Beacon had just ended and after professor Ozpin's lacklustre speech they had settled down in one of the main halls to sleep. At least, that had been her intention. Except there was something preventing her from drifting off into unconsciousness: the blond who currently had their arms wrapped around Ruby's waist.

It looked like Yang had wanted to stay close to her… maybe a little too close.

The very fact of the matter was that her older sister was holding her so tight she could barely breathe… actually, Ruby wasn't going to let this go unpunished, she had some… words to discuss with Ozpin.

Slowly, carefully, Ruby shifted in her sleeping sisters' hold, inch by inch as to not disturb her rest. The iron bindings called Yang's arms came free and allowed the red huntress to slip out of her hold.

He stood up and brushed herself off quietly as to not wake anyone else up. If anyone saw her up at this time of night they might start asking questions; although thanks to her pyjamas it would probably only look like she was breaking curfew.

Ruby stepped gingerly around the sleeping bodies, mindful that the dark was making it difficult to see exactly where she was going, but as luck would have it, the silver eyes girl made it out of the room without stepping on anyone.

Unfortunately, she had been so focused on stealth that she didn't notice a pair of bright golden eyes; watching her leave.

Ruby didn't meet any opposition as she travelled the halls of Beacon; the teachers still most likely asleep. Not bothering to watch the students for the first night. Only an idiot would break the rules on the first day.

What did that make her?

Ruby chastised her wandering thoughts; she had a reason to be up, so it was fine.

That was what she told herself as she walked into the elevator that took people up clocktower.

To the Headmasters office.

There was elevator music, Ruby noted distractedly. She could not think of the reason for the life of her. This wasn't a hotel; it was a place people went to if they were getting in some pretty big trouble… but this was Ozpin, and in the five years Ruby had known him there was one irrefutable fact.

The guy likes to mess with people.

It was so like him; the elevator music probably lulled people into a false sense of security… although Glynda probably hated it, with her being so strict all the time she probably felt it was a waste of money.

Actually that might have been the reason he'd got it. the fool loved to poke the bear that was Goodwitch.

…

Did Ruby just call Glynda a bear?

Was she going to die now?

She didn't have much more time to contemplate these thoughts at the moving metal contraption made a noise and the doors slid open. On the other side Ozpin sat at his desk, the mug of coffee still in his hand. Glynda was there too. Suddenly she twitched and Ruby almost gulped. Seriously, could that woman tell when people were thinking about her?

The Headmaster of Beacon looked over to her with calm eyes, signalling Ruby to enter even as the two teachers paused whatever conversation they were having.

"Miss Rose," he greeted with a smile. "You seem to be up quite late."

The girl in red glared at him and approached his desk, sitting down across from him, waiting for him to give an explanation.

He raised an eyebrow. "Miss Rose, do you mind telling me why you are here?"

Oh, right she hadn't told him yet. Ruby fought back a blush of embarrassment as she crossed her arms angrily… It was supposed to look angry anyway; instead it just looked cute when you noticed she was still in her PJ's.

"I think you know _professor_ ," he said nothing as she emphasised the title. "But in case you forgot, I think you should have given me a warning about the first day of school."

Still he remained silent while Miss Goodwitch gave her a confused look. "What are you talking about Ruby? From what I could tell you had a relatively normal day. All that occurred was a gathering of students and the Headmaster's," she glared at him. "Half-hearted speech.

Ozpin placed the hand not cradling the coffee mug over his heart and a look of false pain set on his face. "My dear Glynda, surely you do not discredit my words, I believe what I said was heart-warming."

Ruby wasn't as amused as she would have been by their usual banter, not with what she was facing. "Ozpin," she ground out, using his name this time. "I want you to tell me why, just, _why_ you didn't tell me that my sister was going to be hear?"

There was a moment of silence between the three of them, before Ozpin sighed, leaning back in his chair and sipping at the mug before looking at the small girl.

"Ruby, if I was to ask you what your greatest asset was when fighting the Grimm what would it be?"

He hadn't answered her, but she answered the question anyway with what she thought was the best answer. "Experience, every day I was fighting Grimm; sometimes it might have only been a couple but sometimes there were hundreds. It did a lot for me that I was able to fight them, and pick up new skills."

He nodded slowly as if he was falling asleep, even if his eyes said otherwise: they were alert, as per usual. "Then tell me, what would you say is your greatest weakness?"

Ruby blinked, thrown off a little. "I… what?"

"Your greatest weakness, what is it do you think?"

The girl in red swallowed, looking away briefly. She didn't know what she was supposed to say about that. She hadn't put much thought into it.

The Headmaster answered for her. "It's teamwork Miss Rose."

There was a moment where he allowed his words to sink in before continuing. "You and I have known each other for five years now, Glynda, Qrow and I have trained and taught you much in what others would consider a short time. However one thing I have realized is that you do not usually… play well with others."

Ruby flinched slightly but refused to meet his eyes.

"I work fine with Uncle Qrow." She rebuked weakly.

"True," the Headmaster agreed. "But Qrow is an experienced Huntsman who you have known for your entire life, not to mention the fact that being in a team with your mother and father have given him some practice in dealing with you beforehand… he is your family after all."

"Others are a much different story; many times I have seen you working with local militia to hold a defence of work with other Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training only to go off on your own to complete the job. This is a poor quality in any Guardian Miss Rose."

"What's the point of this professor?" Ruby question as she finally turned to face him.

The man leaned forward now, both arms crossed underneath his chin. "I have no point Miss Rose, I have a question; How is it that you can hope to be a Huntress if you cannot even work with your sister?"

Ruby recoiled as if struck by some invisible force, the chair being the only thing to stop her from falling down.

"I-that's not… b-but I…"

Ozpin watched as his apprentice struggled for words before Glynda rested a comforting hand on the girls shoulder, relaxing her slightly as he sighed once more.

"I believe I already have an idea for the reason behind it but I would prefer if you told me yourself."

Ruby hesitated for only a second before letting out a breath. "What am I supposed to say? I just left my family five years ago without so much as a goodbye, and before you say it I know; we had to keep them in the dark so that Salem wouldn't target them but… sometimes I wished I could have taken Yang with us."

Ozpin nodded his head in sympathy. "I understand Miss Rose, but you know that we could not, not with what her mother would have done."

Ruby had to concede to that. If Yang had gone as deep as she had then there was no doubt she would have encountered her mother, Raven would be the type to not take interest in her daughter if that had been the road she'd taken. It might have sounded like a good think at first, but the fact of the matter was that Raven was a leader of murderous bandits and worse; she'd gone rouge.

If she had interacted with a young impressionable Yang there was no telling what could have happened. No, it had been better that her big sister had stayed behind, where she could look after dad.

"So why then? Why now of all times? I know you Oz, and you know about every student that passes through your doors. People don't get into Beacon by accident. You knew Yang would be here. So why?"

The man wore a small smile. "Miss Rose, as you have said, you know me and you know that while I may be a protector, I am also a teacher. If someone shows the potential to be a Huntsman or Huntress then it is my duty, as well as the duty of everyone in this faculty to guide these aspiring youths and mould them into defenders of the people. Yang Xiao Long is just one of the many that show this potential, and I must be fair to everyone."

Ruby palmed her forehead, exhaling loudly. "Then what do I do?"

A kinder smile appeared on her friends face, but it was Glynda who answered for him.

"You don't necessarily need to do anything Miss Rose; right now you should focus on tomorrow's initiation. But afterward I would suggest speaking with your sister; reconnect with her. You are both going to be here for the next few years, it would be best to do it sooner rather than later."

Miss Goodwitch continued in a soft voice. "There is no shame in being afraid Ruby, not of this. Family can be one of the most difficult things to manage but in most cases they will love each other regardless of past mistakes… and who knows? You might find a friend in your sister after all these years."

After a long moment Ruby nodded, relaxing slightly as she stood up. "Thank you Professors… I guess I better get some sleep."

They let her go, but right before she stepped into the elevator a voice called her back.

"Oh and Ruby," Ozpin said. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but it would be for her own good if you kept Miss Xiao Long ignorant of just what you were really doing for the last five years, and what who we truly are… now get some rest, the teams will be picked tomorrow."

The silver eyed girl studied him for less than a second, those rare orbs hardening as she nodded. "Yes sir." She said simply as the doors closer, and her vision of them was cut off. The ground beneath her moved downwards and Ruby was able to slip back into the halls of Beacon.

Still, no one had woken up, making it an easy task for Ruby to slip back into her bed, and after much consideration, the arms of her sister.

Her body relaxed as she slowly drifted off to sleep, ready for whatever tomorrow would bring…

…

Wait! Did Ozpin say teams?!

* * *

…

…

* * *

When morning came Ruby had honestly expected to still be in her sisters grasp. So it was a surprise when she woke up to see Yang had rolled over, arms spread lazily at her sides. It was kind of funny to be honest.

She looked around, the sun was just peeking through the widows and it looked like everyone was still asleep. Although that really didn't come as much as a surprise that it probably should have; Ruby was used to moving around in the wilderness, and daylight was something you never wanted to waste.

However a noise off to her side told Ruby that she really wasn't the only one up.

A massive yawn came from a girl with bright orange hair, dressed in pink and white with a huge smile on her face. She moved to shake a boy in green with black hair, although strangely he had a single strand of pink in it.

"Wakey, wakey Ren! It's morning!"

Ruby winced at the volume of her voice. Although it didn't seem like it was going to wake anyone else up. They must have been pretty tired after yesterday.

The young teen called Ren finally rose up, groggily at first before giving his bubbly companion a tired look. Although Ruby noted that there wasn't any sign that he was actually upset with how loud she was.

"Nora…" the boy said with a tired smile. "I don't think the others would appreciate it if you woke them up so early."

"Early?" the ginger gasped. "You call this early? Its nearly seven already!"

"Yes Nora… in the morning."

"Exactly!"

The male let out a sigh of defeat but despite that the girl _did_ quieten down a little, if only because she finally noticed Ruby watching them. Suddenly, faster than she had time to process the girl in red was in the clutches of the older girl.

"Look Renny! She's so cute! Can we keep her."

Ruby struggled desperately to free herself from the crushing grip to no avail. She looked up at the boy called Ren. He gave her a pitying look but seemed reluctant to intervene. It was a last resort, but it was the only way:

She saw the males resolve crumble under the power of her puppy eyes, one of the most powerful weapons in her arsenal.

"Alright Nora, why don't you let your new friend go."

"K!"

Ruby gasped for a moment as she was released from the arms of death. "Thanks." She coughed out weakly.

He gave her a kind smile before helping her to her feet. Still, somehow nobody had been woken up by the commotion.

The three of them stepped around the bodies into the halls for more space. Ren turned to the red Huntress. "I'm sorry about Nora, but I don't think we got your name."

Ruby introduced herself before scratching the back of her head. "It's fine, really. She took me by surprise is all."

The older girl just grinned and draped an arm around Ruby's shoulder as Ren continued.

"Pardon if this comes off as rude but, you seem a bit young for Beacon."

She smiled. "It's fine, I uh… was moved up two years, one of the Professors suggested I join early actually. So here I am!"

"Indeed." He nodded. Nora seemed far more impressed.

"Oh Renny, she must be like, super strong! Are you super strong Ru? Maybe you can be on our team! We'd need to find you a partner though; maybe we can bribe the headmaster into getting somebody."

Ruby couldn't help the giggle that escaped her; not only from the red-heads energy, but from the very idea of Ozpin accepting bribes. "I don't think that would work," she said. "He has a school."

Nora slapped both hands against her cheek as if this was a new revelation for her. "You're right! Eh, don't worry, we'll find some way to get you on our team, or maybe not, who knows?"

Ruby smiled at the duo. "Well, you two seem to have most of it figured out anyway. You two are planning to be on the same team?"

"Yep!" Nora answered for the both of them. "The two of us have been together for like, ever! Well, not together, together. But, not because Ren isn't handsome he is but-"

"Uh, Nora?" Ren tried weakly."

"It's just the two of us have known each other for so long and I don't wanna mess anything up and-"

"N-nora!" the teen tried again.

"So not together, together! Just together" she concluded with finality.

Ruby stared. "I… see." She really didn't. She turned to her left, spying a rather large clock on the wall, an idea came to her.

"Hey, why don't we go to the cafeteria? Get some food before everyone else."

Ren seemed to contemplate it for a second before a smile spread to his lips and nodded. Ruby grinned; she already knew the way so she offered to lead.

As predicted the cafeteria was empty save for those working in it.

After a… heated discussion, Nora had convinced all of them to have pancakes. Before they sat down Ruby motioned to one of the workers behind the counter, a dimple nod but it was enough. The girl in red smiled her thanks as she was offered a mug of piping hot coffee.

She took a sip as she sat down, a relaxed smile spreading across her face. That was the stuff! Ruby thanked the Gods that Ozpin had been kind enough to let the staff know about her the day before she arrived. She didn't know what she would have done if she didn't have her coffee.

"So," Ruby started. "What do you guys know about the whole, 'team forming' thing today?"

Ren shrugged. "Not much really, just that from what I heard each team will be made up of four Huntsmen-in-training. Other than that there wasn't much I could learn on the first day."

The silver eyed girl nodded in acceptance of his answer; it wasn't much but at least it was more than she had known last might… although it was a little concerning that she didn't know how these teams were going to be formed. Maybe that was Ozpins was of making sure no one could rig the system or something.

As the three of them ate it looked like people were finally beginning to wake up, judging from how they were spilling into the hall. Many people were still groggily shuffling about as they lifted their breakfast.

Yellow caught Ruby's eye and she turned back to her new friends as Yang came storming over, a look that clearly said she wasn't happy with something.

The blond stood behind her for a moment as she gave Ren and Nora a smile that was a bit too wide to be genuine.

"Hey! Can you excuse me and my sister for a moment thanks!" she said with false enthusiasm before clutching at the back of Ruby's hood and dragging her out of the cafeteria, the younger girl protesting all the way. Nora waved back happily before stealing the remains of Ruby's pancakes. Damn. They'd been good too.

Yang stopped in the hallway and turned to the smaller girl as she brushed herself off, turning to glare into lilac eyes.

"What the hell was that for? You can't just drag my around like that!" she growled angrily.

Yang crossed her arms over her chest and glared back in kind. "Where were you this morning? I woke up and you were gone."

"Well yeah, I was meeting knew people, you know? The ones you just dragged me away from."

Yang sighed in frustration, her eyes flickering red for a moment before going back to their usual colour. "Look, I think you should just stay with me until initiations over so we can have a chance to talk ok?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself _sis_."

Yang scoffed. "Can you? You're only fifteen."

"And yet I got into Beacon the same time you did. I wouldn't be here if I couldn't." was her rebuke.

Yang couldn't argue with that fact and as her mouth clamped shut Ruby walked past her.

"Where are you going now?" Yang shouted after her.

"The locker rooms!" came the reply. "Initiation's in half-an-hour."

The smaller girl didn't wait for the blonds words as the doors closed behind her. This morning wasn't really off to a great start.

Ruby got dressed in her usual black and red outfit, the golden bracelet clamping onto her left forearm. It was a comfortable feeling for her as she redid the lace on her boots.

Soon enough the locker rooms were filled with the other Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training getting themselves ready, or in many cases just getting themselves psyched up.

At least there was a silver lining to all of this; Ruby got to see everybody's weapons! Personally, the small Huntress thought it was better than meeting the actual person… most of the time. Amber was cool all by herself.

Ruby moved slightly as somebody bumped into her shoulder.

"Oh! Sorry Ruby."

She smiled forgivingly. "It's fine Jaune." She told the blond.

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah? Well I was just looking for my locker anyway, guess I wasn't looking where I was going."

She nodded in understanding. "So are you ready for whatever this test is supposed to be?"

"O-oh, y-yeah of course! Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, suddenly nervous for some reason.

"Nah it's nothing. It just looks like there's a lot of people worried about it today."

He blinked. "Aren't you?"

Ruby shrugged. "it's only the initiation. I doubt it'll be that hard, at least not for our first day."

The taller boy relaxed at that, a relived smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He seemed to realize something in that moment. "Ah, sorry Ruby, I need to go get my stuff now, I'll see you soon."

She gave a small wave as he left, and promptly turned back to inspecting peoples weapons. There was one that immediately caught her interest:

It was a sword, a crimson red metal with beautiful golden trimmings. The grip seemed to be slightly wider at one side, signalling that it was a mechanism to transform the blade into something else. What that was Ruby didn't know but it was exciting. So very excit-

"Um… can I help you?"

Ruby blinked, confused at where she had ended up. Somehow she had moved until she was just inches away from the owner of that magnificent weapons face.

Her own silver eyes stared into bright green.

Ruby jumped back slightly. "O-oh, sorry about that."

The girl was tall, taller that Yang actually, with fiery red hair and dressed in bronze armour. The amazon-like woman gave a smile, although it looked strained.

"It's fine, I'm sure you were-"

"Hello ladies."

Ruby and the girl in bronze turned to the voice. It was Jaune, smiling at the three of them.

Three of them? Oh! It was a t that moment that Ruby finally noticed the other girl- Weiss- glaring at the blond.

"Can I help you?" she asked him coldly.

The male didn't seem to get the hint. "Well snow angle I just came over to invite you onto team Jaune, I think the two of us would be excellent partners."

"Actually," the red head said. "I heard the teams were made up of four people."

The blond blinked for a second before rolling with the new information. "Well then hot stuff maybe if you played your cards right you could end up with the two us, be a part of the winning team."

Ruby looked at him. There was no _winning_ team. Where had he gotten that idea?

It was at that moment that the Schnee stepped between the two. "Listen, Jaune was it? do you have any idea how you're talking to?"

The blond smiled. "Not in the slightest snow angle." Ruby could have sworn she'd seen the ice queens eye twitch at that but she continued.

"This, is Pyrrha."

The newly introduced Pyrrha smiled and gave a little wave. "Hello again."

"Pyrrha was the best in her class at Sanctum."

"Never heard of it." Jaune shrugged. It was Ruby's turn to stare at him. Never heard of Sanctum? How could he not have heard of one of the most famous of combat schools?

It seemed Weiss shared the sentiment.

"She was victorious in the Mistral regional tournament four years in a row without a single lose. "

The Huntress in red gave Pyrrha a far more interested look now; four years in a row? That was defiantly an impressive thing, even one victory was something not many people got to boast about, and she did it when she was thirteen!

Again Jaune gave a shrug of indifference. "The what now?"

Ok, seriously, what backwater town was this guy from?

Weiss seemed to have given up. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes box!

Marshmallow flakes! Why hadn't Ruby heard of these things?

That seemed to get a response from the boy; he gasped and pointed to Pyrrha. "That was you? They only do that for very famous people!"

She smiled wider at him, it seemed more genuine. "Yeah… it was a little cool. But I wouldn't actually recommend the cereal to anyone; it's not terribly healthy."

The ice queen crossed her arms. "So after hearing all that Jaune, do you think you have the right to ask her to be on your team?"

"W-well, I-"

"Don't worry Jaune." The tall teen offered with a smile. "I have a feeling you would be a great leader."

He immediately brightened before finally noticing Ruby. "So what about you Ruby? Feel like joining team Jaune?"

She scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well… I don't know, I guess I'd have to see if you could fight. B-but we don't even know how the teams are gonna be picked so we might not want to make any plans yet."

He hummed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"RRRRUUUUUBBBBYYYYY!"

Ruby paled as the other three looked past her in shock, or maybe it was fear. A strong hand gripped the back of her hood and yanked her up to eye level.

Silver glared into red. "Seriously Yang! You can't keep doing this!"

"And you can't just keep wandering off!" Yang growled.

"I'm not a child Yang; I told you already I can take care of myself."

"You're staying near me and that's final. We need to be on the same team."

Ruby groaned. "What is with you? You can't just give some breathing room for a day-and-a-half? You're not here to babysit me."

The others took with moment to wisely step back as flames seemed to lick Yang's mane. The scene promised conflict, until a pink blur crashed into the two of them.

"Hiya Ruby!" Nora laughed as the three girls tumbled to the ground. The Valkyrie already had an arm around reds shoulder. "You two look like you're havin' fun!"

Nora helped Ruby to her feet and smiled. "Yeah… fun." she moved her head and waved. "Hey Ren."

The boy nodded back as she came closer, ignoring the glares that Yang gave him and Nora, whatever he was about to say was cut off as the speakers rang out:

" _Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff of initiation?"_

Glynda's voice sounded through, and even though it was calm, it was still enough to relax whatever tension had risen.

Pyrrha stepped forward, most noticeably between, Yang and the rest of the group. "I think you should do as the Miss Goodwitch asked don't you? Come on."

There was a round of agreement as Yang huffed, but followed the rest of the group, at the back.

Nora still had an arm around Ruby, but it was relaxed and as Ruby turned to say something to her she winked.

Huh… looks like Nora had been able to read the situation after all. She was smarter than she let on.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby shivered slightly as the wind whipped over the cliff face. It wasn't particularly cold but being this high up made a lot of difference when it came to temperature.

All the trainees had been lined up, Jaune was on her right side and her sister was on her left, with a frown plastered onto her face. Along the line was a big guy who had introduced himself as Cardin Winchester. Then it was Ren, Nora, another guy called Russel, Pyrrha and then Weiss. There were more people but Ruby could make out there faces from this angle.

Both the Headmaster and Miss Goodwitch stood at the edge of the cliff, facing them. Ozpin had his signature mug in hand.

"For years, you have trained to be warriors of the highest calibre, today your skill will be evaluated in the Emerald forest."

He nodded to Glynda. "I am sure that many of you have heard rumours about teams being assigned to day. Well allow us to clear up any confusion; yes, you will receive your partners today."

Ozpin's face was serious as he continued for Miss Goodwitch. "These teams will be with you for the next four years here at Beacon, so it is important for you to end up with someone you work well with… that being said, you will be partnered with the first person you make eye contact with."

Oh… oh no. Ruby suppressed a gulp as she gave a side glance at Yang, whose face had suddenly turned predatory.

The others along the line made their own noises. Nora's in particular was one of excitement, and Ruby tough she heard a 'called it'

Ozpin did not seem fazed by the reception. "Then, after you have partnered up you must make your way to the other end of the forest and collect the relics set out for you and make your way back to the top of the cliff."

"Be sure to slay anything in your path. Or it could prove fatal."

There was a moment of silence before he sighed. "I will be honest with you; today especially I have a feeling that there will be danger, more so than is usual for new blood. Which is why a number has been imprinted onto all of your scrolls. If you call it, you will be extracted from the forest but, you will have failed.

There was another wave of muttering. Glynda stepped in to calm them. "This is not something to be ashamed of. This year is simply the exception after the rising number of Grimm. We do not expect it to get too out of hand. That being said, if you do fail there is always next year for those wishing to try again."

No more was said as the Headmaster to a sip if Coffee. "Are there any question?"

No one said anything, not even as Jaune looked a little put off.

"Good, now be prepared, you will be using your own landing strategy."

If anyone had something to say about that they were out of time, one after the other in short succession the steel squares they hand been standing on sent them rocketing skywards.

Ruby spread out her arms as she was separated for the crown of people in the air, using her semblance to aid her in movement forward. She didn't need to look as the sound of mechanics shifted in her hand and the sniper rifle took form.

Ruby pointed down and pulled the trigger continuously. The recoil of each shot slowing her fall bit by bit. The trees sailed below her. In a final burst of speed the Huntresses feet connected with the branches. The first shattered from her momentum, so did the second and the third. But the forth only creaked and Ruby used this to stop her fall, sliding of it and rolling onto the ground. She'd landed, but she didn't stop. Ruby crouched low and pointed the rifle into the foliage, sweeping right to left.

After a moment of stillness she relaxed, letting out the breath she'd been holding and folding her weapon away.

With nothing to say to anyone but herself she sped forward, the green passing by her vision in the blink of an eye. In her head she thought about the potential partners; Yang was off the list instantly after the headache she'd created for Ruby.

There were plenty of other options: Pyrrha maybe? She seemed nice, if a little too formal, but that was fine. Jaune seemed nice enough, a little on the overconfident side but maybe that was just Ruby. Nora? No, she was probably going to be Ren's partner after all that talk yesterday. That crossed of Ren too then. What about Blake? She was ok… a little quiet and it wasn't like they had much time to interact… maybe not. So… who was left for Ruby to partner with?

As if the Gods had heard her thoughts they answered. Rather immediately she might have added, in the form of a white hair girl. Ruby skidded to a stop as the girl turned to look at her.

Rose made contact with Schnee.

Eye contact… damn.

Weiss was the first one to break the stare off.

"If your sister tries to attack me, I will hold you responsible."

Ruby scratched the back of her head and smiled weakly. "Yeah well… I guess I'll have to keep her off you then. Come one, let's keep moving then."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me? Who put you in charge?"

Ruby slumped in defeat. Looks like the ice queen was incredibly bossy… this was going to be a pain.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang wasn't in the best of moods as she crawled out of the crater she'd made. So far the day had gone the complete opposite of the wat she'd wanted it to. From her sister refusing to talk to her to getting separated it was like the world was screwing with her. It gave Yang the intense desire to punch something.

Wasn't this forest supposed to be filled with Grimm? The blond had been walking for a good twenty minutes and there wasn't a single sign of the monsters. There wasn't a sign of any people either, but that was a different story.

Yang didn't know what to do. The plan had been to join Beacon, train as a Huntress, become popular and adventure out into the world. Then her sister had popped back into her life after half a decade and changed all of that. Now she was getting frustrated when the punk argued with her and she'd made herself look bad in front of an entire crowd of people. She could have sworn she'd seen Pyrrha Nikos there too!

Yang was ripped from her thoughts by a rustling in the trees above. She jumped back preparing for a fight as her gauntlets wrapped around her fist, shot loaded. She hadn't needed to worry though; as it wasn't a Grimm that appeared but the girl from yesterday.

Blake Belladonna.

The relief of meeting someone else was almost instantly washed away by the fact that she wasn't going to be Ruby's partner now.

She sighed and raised a hand lazily in greeting.

The raven haired girl raised her own in return, silently hopping down to the ground. And when Yang thought silent, she meant _silent_ like, there wasn't a sound as the girls feet touched down. That was cool.

She shrugged internally. "I guess you and me are gonna be working together then huh?"

Blake raised an eyebrow in response. "Looks that way. Do you mind not pointing your fists at me like that?"

Despite herself, Yang grinned at the opportunity. "What's the matter? Wait I see, you don't like how their blocking your few of my chest."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Oh joy, a joker's in the pack."

This only made Yang grin wider. This girl was feisty. She liked that.

Over at a different side of the forest Red and White journeyed through the foliage.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Weiss called back to Ruby.

"Yes I'm sure, I know how to track. Not only that but I got a good view of the ruins from the air. We're going the right way. Let's just hurry and be the first ones there."

The Schnee nodded, more to herself that to her new partner. They walked in relative silence that was only once or twice broken from when Ruby pointed out a better route for them to go.

There was a niggling question at the back of Weiss' mind though and she would be damned if she didn't ask about it.

"So… that… Yang girl, she's your sister?"

Ruby sighed. "Yes." Was all she said.

The rich girl's mouth pressed into a straight line. Her new partner wasn't being very talkative, even though she'd seen her blab for ages to that Nora girl at breakfast this morning.

"Is there… a problem between the two of you?"

That got a chuckle out of Ruby as she shook her head. "I honestly don't know. I mean we've been here two days and she just won't get off my back! Like she expects me to fall over from the slightest wind or something."

"Well," Weiss argued. "You do seem a bit… young to be here. What are you, fifteen?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, but that shouldn't matter! I mean if Ozpin moved me up early then I must be good enough to fight Grimm. I bet I have or experience fighting than her. No! I guarantee it."

The older girl gave her a sceptical look. "Right, sure. But even if you are adept in combat, can the same be said for you academic ability?"

Ruby flinched slightly from the prob. "Not really," she mumbled dejectedly. "I'm more centred around practical work you know?"

Weiss did know. Well, she thought she did. Not from experience, a Schnee was expected to be as intelligent as they were skilled.

"Well it is a good thing you have me as a partner then," she proclaimed with a flick of her hair. "As heiress to the Schnee Dust Company I will be making sure that you can keep up with my level"

Ruby gave her a pointed look. "Why do you talk like that?" she asked finally.

Weiss blinked. "Like what?" she asked suspiciously.

"Like you're analysing every word that comes into your head before you say it."

"I… don't know what you're talking about." She said uncertainly.

"See! There it is again, it's like you know what you want to say but you have to be careful about how you say it."

"Don't I?"

"Nah, not really. Honestly I'd prefer if you talked a little less like an ic- like a robot. But hey! Whatever makes you feel comfortable."

She didn't know what to say to that. Here was a person she'd met with a cold attitude and instead of receiving the same she got a relaxed, even flippant mood. Weiss really didn't know what to do about this.

So she stated quiet as the pushed through the bushes. There was a silence between them, but it was a nice silence. One that Weiss highly enjoyed.

"Heh… you dolt." She muttered under her breath. If Ruby heard her, she didn't mention it.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake didn't know what to think about her partner, No, wait, she knew exactly what to think; the blond was loud, destructive and in a really bad mood. On the bright side, it wasn't directed at Blake herself.

"And then she just refuses to mention where she's been all this time! I mean yeah, maybe I came on a little strong but I wouldn't have to if she just talked to me."

Blake hummed in response, not arguing but defiantly not agreeing much. She really, really didn't want to get involved in a sibling argument, especially not between the red-hood and a girl that could set herself on fire.

But she could see where Yang was coming from, even if she wouldn't say it; there was something… off about Ruby. She had been nice enough upon their first meeting, but Blake knew better than anyone about fake personas. Then there was last night. A girl like her had no business sneaking around like that. And then a total mood switch directed at her sister just to top off all the weird things about her going on.

Of course Blake admitted that she could just be overly suspicions. But still…

Speaking about being suspicious.

"Hey," she called back to the blond. "Have you seen any Grimm yet? Or… encountered any at all?"

Yang blinked. "Huh… I guess not, weird." She shrugged.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You're not at all concerned about how we're expected to be cutting our way through Grimm?"

A wide grin spread across the taller girls face. "What's the saying? Don't look a gifted horse in the mouth? If there's no Grimm then there's no Grimm."

"You're not at all wondering where they are when the Headmaster specifically mentioned the rising numbers?" Blake pressed.

Yang chuckled. "Gee, no need to be so eager to fight the things, just relax kitten."

Blake froze for a fraction of a second before she continued walking, turning to narrow her eyes at her new partner. "Kitten? She asked curtly.

That smile was still there.

"Yeah, it's my nickname for you. You like it?"

"…No."

She received a pout for her response. "Aww, you're no fun!"

"Tch" Blake was starting to wonder if she had made a bad life choice in choosing Yang to be her partner.

At that moment the shrubbery started to separate and Blake Blinked rapidly as the sunlight poured through the trees. It was Yang that confirmed her theory.

"Hey, I think this is it. See the relics there?"

She did; chess pieces both black and gold in colour arranged ornately. So what? They just had to pick one and leave?

The duo made their way into the centre of the ruin, podiums holding the chess pieces around them. There was four of each, two of each colour.

The black bishop pieces were missing. It looked like someone had already been here. Although judging by the heavy footprints. (probably made by someone in metal armour) they weren't long gone.

Yang hummed thoughtfully before grinning. She grabbed the golden knight pieces, both of them for some reason. She turned to Blake. "Hey, got any problems with a pony?"

She just shrugged back. "Why two?" Blake asked simply.

"Well duh! For our other teammates."

Blake sighed. She still wanted her sisters on her team. For all the complaining she did about her so far it was difficult to see why.

After Yang had stuffed the relics into God-knows-where she grinned. After a moment she put her arms up and stretched.

"So, you ready to go kitten?"

Blake muttered something resembling a rebuke under her breath but if Yang heard she chose to ignore it.

Blake straightened up!

Suddenly her bow began to twitch rapidly and the hairs on the back of her neck rose.

There was something out there! Something-

"Ow, ow, ow!" a masculine voice sounded out.

She slumped as two figures emerged from the bushes. A head of blond hair could be seen through the green. It was quickly followed by red as Jaune and Pyrrha emerged.

The champion smiled in relief. "Thank goodness, looks like we were following the right path."

"Yeah, I guess so, good work with that by the way." The blond completely missed Pyrrha's wide smile as he finally noticed the two of them.

"Oh! Hey guy!" he waved. "Guess we we're the second pair here."

"Third, or four actually," Blake corrected automatically. "The first full team already came and left so I suppose we won't be seeing them until this is all over."

Jaune shrugged his shoulders. As Pyrrha stepped over to the podiums. A look passed over her face as she stared at the relics, perhaps in conflict on which one to choose.

Again Jaune didn't seem to notice this, walking up and grabbing the golden rook piece. He smiled at his female partner and for a moment the amazon looked flustered. Probably due to the embarrassment of not being able to decide Blake guessed.

The events next happened so fast that all the secret Faunas could only react with bemusement:

There was a quake as a Huntsman and Huntress flew in… on a hammer? No, scratch that; the Huntress was practically dragging the boy around like a ragdoll.

Nora landed with a force that cracked the ground, but her ever present grin made it seem like she didn't even notice. Behind her, Ren rose unsteadily to his feet.

"Nora, he said through gasps. "Please don't do that again."

"K, Ren!"

The four of them blinked, and it must have been simultaneously because when they looked again Nora had moved. She let out a sound of awe as she stared at the remaining golden rook piece.

She clutched it in one hand and raised it into the air in triumph.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the cas-"

"Nora!"

"Coming Ren!" she giggled happily.

Blake would have been happy to say that that had been the end of the excitement…

She was wrong.

The wind kicked up forcefully and the ground moved again at the same time as a red and white blur shot from the forest. The small of rose petals appeared as two girls came skidding to a stop.

Ruby perked her head up.

"Oh! We're here."

Her words were not appreciated.

"You dolt! Why on Remnant would you do that?!"

The younger girl tilted her head in confusion. "You said we should pick up the pace. So I did."

Weiss stomped angrily. "And why did that mean picking _me_ up and running so fast I almost got whiplash?"

Ruby looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Because you were the one setting the pace!"

The Schnee's jaw dropped, the wind taken out of her sails as she could only stare at her partner in utter shock. She couldn't argue with that child-like logic.

Blake began to reevaluate her opinion on Ruby; if she could mess with the Schnee then she was ok in her books.

Yang took this as an opportunity. She stepped forward and reached into her back pocket… and somehow one of the knight pieces came out.

"Yo! Good to see the two of you made it. Saved you a relic." She said, tossing it to the white haired girl. She caught it on instinct and Blake couldn't help but wince."

The red hood caught it and suddenly looked worried. "Wait a minute! Which one did you pick?"

"Same one." Was the quick response.

Weiss stilled, and it looked like she had caught on to the situation.

"W-wait!" she began to sweat. "I don't want this one; let me pick a new one."

Yang shrugged, but her shit-eating grin gave it away. "Sorry, but I don't think the rules let us change once we pick, that would kinda make the whole point of this… well, pointless."

"Nooooo!" the Schnee cried as she sank to her knees.

Ruby didn't look impressed. Well, she did, but she didn't look surprised about it at all. "You planned that didn't you?"

Yang winked. "I guess you could say that that's _checkmate."_

The groans resounded from all of them minus Nora.

"Oh screw you guys that was a good one!"

 _ **THe gROuNd ShoOk.**_

The earth beneath them cracked and Blake stumbled.

"What's going on!?" Jaune cried.

Whatever Pyrrha was about to say to reassure her partner was cut off as the ruins were destroyed.

No, destroyed wasn't the right word in Blake's mind; obliterated was like it as a tower of darkness smashed its way from underneath and practically blocked out the sun.

It was a Grimm, bigger than the Faunas had ever seen in her life; dripping black ooze and giving off a grotesque feeling of terror.

Then the topped moved, and after a realization of horror she saw that it was its head.

And it could see them.

No one moved.

There was only silence and the sound of breathing.

Then, brutally slow, its face began to open in five segments, and on the inside;

Were thousands of teeth.

Blake's cat ears twitched as she heard Ruby speak, although she doubted anyone missed the fear in her voice.

"It's an _Ouroboros."_ She whispered.

The noise was enough for the monster. And it let out an ear-splitting roar that shattered the heavens.

Ruby screamed.

"RUN!"

And they did.

* * *

…

…

* * *

 **Another Chapter finished and i'm already excited for the next one!**

 **But now that this is out of the way I have a question for you dear reader:**

 **I view this story as a sort of AU. i don't really know what exactly qualifies a story as one but it definitely isn't how canon turned out. at least not completely. My Question is this; how much would you like this to diverge from Canon and into AU territory? if i go full AU then i'll have the freedom to make up lore, magic and Grimm to my own liking and personally that's what I would like to do. But I understand if some people may be a bit miffed if I change what makes this a RWBY story. So what do you think? AU freedom, Keep with canon laws or do you not really care. I would really appreciate it if you let me know.**

 **Again I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are tuned in for the next one, if not then.**

 **Follow, favorite and Review.**

 **Spectre says goodbye!**


	6. Trial By Fire: Part 2

**Alright so we're back with another Chapter of RWBY and this one's going to good!**

 **al least I hope so, there's a bit of a long fight scene in this one but i think it fits what i'm going for here.**

 **Also, diverging a little from RWBY lore, with an explination on magic that the Canon just han't given us yet, so if you like it and think it makes sense let me know, if not, well let me know where you think I went wrong.**

 **And a final thing; I encourage you to Review this story, PLEASE! I love writing these stories but it fuels me to write more when someone gives their thoughts on a chapter. It can be anything! like the chapter, didn't like the chapter, character you want more of, character you want less of, idea for the story or things to fix. Have any questions and I'll answer to the best of my ability!**

 **Ok,Ok, i think that's enough of a rant. Anyway, if you like it then Follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

Weiss hadn't run so fast in her entire life.

No, that wasn't true; her Glyphs could enhance her speed to inhuman levels easily but it made it so that her extra speed didn't cause extra strain on her body.

Right now, there was strain, enough for her lungs to burn and muscles to scream out in agony. If she took a moment Weiss could have used her Glyphs and pushed a lot faster and she would have…

If it wasn't for the monstrosity hunting them down.

The young huntress-in-training took a single glance back, a mistake. The next moment she was screaming internally. Wait, no, it was out loud. Thankfully she wasn't the only one; Yang was a very vocal person even as she melded a string of curses with her fear.

Weiss wasn't ashamed to admit that she joined in after a while, but stopped once she realized she needed to conserve what little breath she had in her lungs.

She was scared. The monster was over sixty feet tall and as wide as a house.

But it wasn't the size that terrified her: it was the rows upon rows of deadly incisors, hundreds if not thousands of teeth that made its maw look akin to a grinder.

They needed a plan. What was the plan?

Weiss realised in that instant that she didn't have one; she wasn't prepared for this kind of situation.

"Keep moving!" Ruby yelled from the front. It looked like she had said something else but Weiss couldn't hear as a bone-chilling howl tore through the forest.

And another.

And another

And a- oh god there were hundreds of them now, all around them the cries of Beowolves surrounded them.

Beside her Jaune curse and picked up the pace.

They couldn't do this Weiss began to think, and then they'd be dead before they reached the top of the cliff.

The forest in front of them broke in the next instant and less than a few feet ahead the ground fell away into an abyss. There was only one salvation; there!

A ruin dead centre of the chasm. It looked like Ruby had come to the same conclusion as she had and was already sprinting towards the only path over; an ancient stone bridge.

Weiss was scared, but she was willing to follow orders and right now, it looked like the red Huntress was the one giving them.

However the younger girl was facing an internal struggle of her own.

Ruby grit her teeth as the eight teenagers clambered onto the stone construct. The area behind them already swept away by shadow.

There was a howl that rattled her bones.

And then everything stopped.

Ruby looked back and paused. What was going on?

The Ouroboros had disappeared. How did something that big just vanish? Even stranger was the pack of Beowolves that had stopped at the beginning of the bridge. These were Grimm, young ones at that, they should be charging at the Huntsmen and Huntresses-in training with reckless abandon.

Instead they were watching, waiting.

Ruby wasn't going to waste their hesitation.

"Come on!" she ordered. "Get to some cover and get ready."

There was a bark as they leaped into action.

The fallen ruin was an excellent defensible positon; with a massive gap preventing large attacks from the front by ground forces, the place was littered with fallen pillars perfect for hiding behind, and with only a single way in and out.

Ruby was going to make full use of what she had.

The silver-eyed warrior felt the mechanics of her weapon shift as she held the sniper-rifle in her hands. She dived for the left side of the bridge, finding a rectangular piece of cover at chest height to hide behind Right beside her Pyrrha slammed the tip of her shield down, giving it a hold in the stone. The inward curve of Akoúo̱ giving her sight as she set her Rifle on top, effectively creating a make-shift tripod.

The redhead gave Ruby a subtle nod but did not fire, simply training her sights on one of the waiting Beowolves.

At the left side Ren, Nora and Blake had found a similar position. Ruby didn't even blink as the louder girl pulled a grenade launcher out of nowhere, it was completely like Nora.

Blake and Ren had also loaded their guns, seeming to agree to give Nora covering fire.

And finally on the bridge itself was Weiss, Jaune and Yang. Practically a wall, guarding their side of the stone construct with melee tactics. Ruby hummed to herself as she took it all in; three people taking the brunt of the force of the charge while five cut the Grimm down at long range.

At least that was the plan. The damn things still hadn't moved. A few more Beowolves had appeared but it was nothing momentous. What was this?

Ruby realized after a moment that she had been grinding her teeth together. She was wasting time! If she had a moment to speak then she should be doing it.

"Hey!" she called out to the trio in front. "Do you think you can hold them off?"

Yang didn't look back, simply preferring to raise a fist and give a thumbs up, similarly Weiss nodded as she unsheathed her rapier. The chamber above its hilt turned to a shade of blue but she stayed where she was.

Jaune didn't look as confident. "Dammit," he said. "I should have got a gun; it would've given me an excuse to be anywhere but here."

The blond brawler beside him barked out a laugh and grinned. "Hey don't sweat it! We got this, the worms gone so all we have to deal with is a few mutts."

The male gulped but gave a weak grin anyway before drawing his sword, the sheath springing up and transforming into a shield.

Ruby nodded, mostly to herself and raised her voice.

"Fire on my mark! We can't let them cross this bridge! We have to-"

She was cut off as a howl came from the Grimm pack, this one was different; it was louder, more dangerous, more terrifying.

The eight of them stared as a Beowolf came forward. Ruby let out a gasp. It was massive! Triple the size of the other wolf Grimm surrounding it, and it's midnight black fur was matted in bone white spikes.

It let out a series of snarls to the smaller Grimm.

Ruby, along with the others could only watch on in morbid interest as they barked back at the bigger one. Like some sort of communication.

"What is it doing?" Pyrrha whispered beside her, the quiver in her voice giving away her unease.

"I'm not sure," was Ruby's reply. "But… I think it giving orders."

The champion's head snapped round so fast Ruby could have sworn she heard something crack in the girls neck.

"What!?" she gasped. "But that's not possible! How is that possible? I though Grimm were mindless."

"Yeah, they are… at least in a way; no living creature is _mindless_ or else it would be able to function. And the big one looks like an old one… you know how Grimm get smarter the longer they live?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, it was one many lesson at Sanctum Academy. But I've never heard of younger Grimm being able to do the same."

Ruby shook her head. "I don't think they do."

"What do you mean?"

"Beowolves are pack animals, like regular wolves. They only need to send signals to each other to talk. It's like how the Alpha tells the others what to do in a hunt. At least that's what I think."

The Mistral Champion hummed in thought. "So what do we do?"

Ruby bit her lip. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "We can't do much until the thing makes its move. I think I have a plan."

"Alright, I hope you know what you're doing."

"We have a problem!" Ren yelled.

The violet eyed teen pointed to the edge of the forests and Ruby had to suppress a scream:

Two more groups of Grimm emerged from the tree line; Big, bearlike monsters. Half-a-dozen Ursa lumbered forward, sniffing the air and making their way towards the pack of Beowolves.

The other was full of much smaller creatures, and yet it wasn't their size that mattered but their number: fifty- no! Sixty two legged lizards slinked towards the growing mass of Grimm. Creep, if Ruby could remember their names. She couldn't agree more, the things just looked unnatural, no matter how many times she saw them.

Those things shouldn't be able to keep their balance; they had too much weight on their fronts and their heads were too big, to flat.

There wasn't some big move, some final howl from the alpha or even any words from Ruby herself.

It just happened.

One moment the Grimm were converging, the next they were charging the bridge.

Ruby felt her pulse slow as she took in everyone for one last moment.

Pyrrha slowed her breath, gripping her rifle tighter. Ren's face became stoic as he aimed his weaponry at the oncoming Grimm. Blake seemed to twitch all over, subtly. Nora grinned, giggling to herself with excitement. Jaune's muscles tensed, his shield arm raised a little higher than usual. Weiss was a statue, standing elegantly but without even a quiver. Yang's Grin was wide, her gauntlets loaded as she slammed her fists together.

The Grimm were approaching in mass, barely enough room as they engulfed the bridge in shadowed flesh.

A tenth of the distance crossed.

A quarter of the distance crossed.

Half the distance crossed.

"Weiss!" Ruby bellowed. "Freeze their exit!"

There was no hesitation, it wasn't even clear if the older girl was sure on what her orders were but she carried them out to the letter: Weiss plunged the dust infused blade into the bridge and a layer of ice burst forward.

It swept under the Grimm's feet. Leaving them undisturbed, instead it sprang up behind them, a wall of ice that blocked more Grimm from coming… or for the Grimm already there to run.

"FIRE!"

And then Ruby's vision was filled with Dust.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang panted as her fists collided with the a Creep, the lizard sent spiralling into the abyss below. The blond fires off a round of shells into the stomach of an Ursa and it too fell to its death.

This was working.

Barely, but it was working Yang admitted as her weaponised fist crunched into the jaw of a young Beowolf. A hail of Dust ammunition sailed over their heads, mowing down ranks of Grimm and thinning them out to a manageable number for the trio.

The ice wall had been a stroke of genius Yang would say; the barricade had made the first wave a piece of cake to deal with. The Grimm had been sitting ducks placed right in the firing line. Not only that but when the Grimm that hadn't been trapped tried to advance the ice slowed them down. Some even slipped straight off.

Yang fired another Shell into a group of Creep, blowing them away. A lumbering Ursa smashed through his fallen comrades' right at Yang. It clawed at her, the blond jumped back. The bear had overextended, and she moved in for the kill, bashing it right in the face and sending it flying back into a pocket of Beowolves that were sent catering into the chasm.

She didn't watch Weiss or Jaune, who were similarly cutting down their own opponents. It didn't matter how they did it as long as they did. They were Yang's support and they knew it too.

They may have been tough in their own rights, but Yang was the muscle. If she went down then the Grimm would swarm the bridge and screw the others over.

Ruby was up there.

She couldn't let that happen.

Yang growled as her fist burst through a Beowolves chest, dead in an instant. But there were already more taking its place. She didn't have time to pull her fist out. She stepped forward, the stone barely handling the force of her steps and fired a round of dust into the head off another Grimm, blowing its head off.

Black ichor splashed onto her face but she ignored it. The Beowolf on her arm was beginning to dissolve. Pivoting on her heel she threw it into a pack of Creep, knocking them down to their dooms.

Yang jumped back; barely able to catch her breath as her previous space was filled by a Grimm.

"Holy crap," Jaune gasped. "What do they feed you?"

She grinned at him before diving back into the fray, he followed, using his shield to cover her back and jabbing at the lesser Grimm with his ancient blade.

The two blonds stood back-to-back, circling each other and preventing the Grimm from advancing. Yang's crimson eyes glared back into evil blood red.

Those eyes were quickly dimmed as a metal fist crunched into them. They were replaced a split second later by another pair.

"Damn," Yang spat. "These things just don't stop comin!'"

"Tell me about it," Jaune coughed. "At this rate we're going to run out of dust."

She growled in agreement. Ruby's plan was working but it wouldn't let them hold off forever. They needed to get out of here…

They couldn't.

Yang realized it a second later. They just couldn't. The cliff was at their back, preventing them from any kind of retreat. And by the looks of it the flow of Grimm wasn't stopping any time soon. Their only option was to push forward.

But they couldn't do that either.

Not with that giant worm still alive. It was probably waiting for them to come back onto solid ground. They would be chewed up instantly, and with what dust they had left there wasn't even half a chance that they could get back over the bridge anyway.

This was bad, Yang realized. And there was nothing they could do about it, they-

"Ursa!"

Yang blinked as Jaune called out a warning but it came too late. The two ton Grimm barrelled into Yang's lower body. If she had been ready for it, it would have only made her budge a little. But her footing had been off, and so Yang was sent tumbling back.

Right off the edge.

"Shit, Yang!"

It was only her reflexes that saved her, and probably some luck too as her hands desperately scrambled for a hold. They found it in a crack in the bridge. They stop was sudden and it jerked at her arm, her body screamed in pain as gravity attempted it murder her.

Crap! She was out of rounds. There was no way to propel herself back up in time.

The ledge began to crumble even as she held on.

Yang let out a curse as the muscles in her arms begged of oxygen.

The roar of the Ursa sounded above her. It-

Was cut off in a strangle gasp. Suddenly a strong hand clutched her own and yanked her back onto the bridge. Jaune let out a noise at the effort and fell onto his back.

Yang made to thank him before she noticed a chunk of ice wedged between the shoulder blades of the Ursa that had knocked her off, as well as a dozen other Grimm littering the path.

"Get up will you," Weiss yelled from ahead of them. "I can't hold them all off by myself." She said this at the same time that she stabbed her thin blade into the eye of a Creep, its body igniting as the chamber of her blade turned red. The flaming corpse was fired back at the mass of Black.

The two blonds scrambled to their feet and took stances beside the ice queen.

"Where'd you learn how to do that snow flake?" Yang panted.

Weiss shrugged, her body giving away none of the fatigue she was no doubt feeling. "I just made that trick up actually."

The taller girl nodded. "Cool." Was all she said.

A terrified curse that came from Jaune brought her attention to him. And what he was staring at:

" _Death Stalker!"_ she screamed back to the others, and Yang could have sworn she heard Nora of all people gasp.

The Giant Scorpion made an unnatural sound through its mandibles. The white, bone-like mask gave it a sinister look.

It was fine, Yang told herself; the thing was too big to use the bridge, it would just fall off if it tried.

She was right, it was too big. But there was one thing she wasn't taking into account: its stinger.

The golden weapon was harder than steel. And it was connected to an extending tail.

One that could reach a lot farther than the rest of its body.

"Oh no." Weiss realized what it was going to do before Yang. But by the time she did there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The Death Stalker's stinger struck out.

And smashed the ice barricade to pieces.

Yang let out a cry as the wall filtering off the Grimm was no more and they spilled forth in even greater numbers.

Behind her, Ruby screamed out an order:

"Blake, Ren! They need your help, get down there!"

The normally quiet Huntsman and Huntress-in-training nodded before lunging to join the trio on the bridge.

It was no time to be conservative of weaponry, not anymore, not with the amount that threatened to overtake even the blond brawler.

Blake gripped the sheath of Gambol Shroud, pulling the blade within free, the dual bladed weapon cleaving through weaker Grimm.

Ren too, slid into action, Weaving his way in and out of the smaller Grimm, cutting them down easily. Five now guarded the bridge, holding back the tide of monsters that threatened to overwhelm them all.

"Look out!" Pyrrha warned.

Yang's head snapped up as a howl shook her bones.

It was the Alpha, and it finally decided to join the battle.

She didn't know when it had happened; one moment she was watching it come at her, the next it was right in her face.

 _Fast_ Yang thought to herself as she reeled back in shock, _it's way too fast!_

Air was forced out of her lungs as its massive claws scrapped across her stomach. Had it not been for her aura the thing would have cleaved her in half. As it stood instead she was sent hurtling back, her body skidding across the ground.

It lunged at her.

Jaune jumped in to protect her and was knocked over like a bowling pin. But the slight stop the Alpha had to make to do that gave Yang enough time to scramble to her feet.

It struck her again, but this time she stayed put, raising her arms to block the blow her aura dropped and her bones rattled.

A stream of fire passed over her shoulder and suddenly Weiss had joined in, stabbing at the things legs, trying to weaken it. It would've worked on a regular Grimm, but that this thing was not.

It stepped to the side and _dropped_ to all fours, barrelling its shoulder into the white haired girl.

The Schnee gasped in pain as her aura shattered and Yang cursed; she hadn't noticed how low Weiss had been.

Yang moved to defend the smaller girl as she tumbled back. She was joined by Ren, who fired straight into its chest.

He didn't care about killing the thing, no; he just needed to bleed it out, so that someone stronger could take it down.

The Alpha knew this too however and dived at him.

The boy was more agile that Weiss though, and was able to flip over the brutes arm, dive under its bite and avoid its claws.

Yang didn't waste any time either; she was out of rounds, completely, but she could still fight!

Raising her fists she stepped into the monsters guard and smashed a metal fist into its ribs. There was a satisfying crunch as the Beowolf howled in pain and anger.

Blake was no slouch either; she lunged at the beasts back and brought her blades down, the katana sinking into muscle.

It howled again, writhing and thrashing in rage.

Blake wasn't prepared for the whiplash and was sent flying into Jaune, whose aura broke from that last impact.

Yang cursed, if Jaune or Weiss got hit they were dead, Blake and Ren couldn't be that much better off there.

The Alpha roared in fury, it dropped to all fours and snarled. It's back arched and fangs dripping with…

Blood?

Oh god!

It was at that moment that Yang heard Weiss' screams. She was bleeding. Bleeding heavily from her side and clutching it desperately, Jaune was already dragging her back to cover.

When had that happened? When had she been paying so little attention that one of them had been hit like that?

To Ruby's partner… to her own teammate. To someone she was fighting side-by-side with.

Yang saw red.

The fiery brawler let loose a savage roar of her own, and charged at the Alpha.

It happened so fast. One moment she was charging at the thing, the next she knew she'd tackled the thing over the edge of the bridge.

Falling.

Yang was falling.

The thought was a strange one. Not in the way that _'hey, she was falling'_ no, it was the fact that in that moment, Yang realized she was going to die.

There was nothing she could do about it; her aura was too low, whenever she hit the inevitable bottom her body would splat against it. Even if she did survive she'd be too exhausted to climb back out. Not to mention there was probably some Grimm down there, that would eat her alive.

That though was probably the scariest.

In a way, Yang found it funny that her best hope was to die quickly. But that feeling was muted.

She did take some satisfaction in seeing the Alpha's body smash into the cliff face.

Guess she was next.

"I don't think so."

Yang felt her body jerk upwards as something grabbed the collar of her jacket.

Her eyes shot up to see a familiar black figure holding onto her.

"Hey Kitten!" Yang whooped in joy.

Blake rolled her eyes and she swung from Gambol Shroud's reinforced ribbon.

"We need to get back in the fight! Think you can last any longer?" The dark haired girl called down to her.

The blond gave a predatory grin. "Let's get goin!'"

* * *

…

…

* * *

"I'm almost out!" Pyrrha informed over the bellows of Grimm.

Ruby grit her teeth. Things were going bad and they were going good.

Yang had just fallen off the side of the bridge. If Blake hadn't been so fast to jump Ruby would have gone after her sister herself. But they were fine.

Relatively speaking anyway.

On the whole though, things were not fine, they were most defiantly not fine.

They were running out of energy, ammo and options as every second past. The ice barricade was gone and they had no way out yet.

But uncle Qrow told her there was always a way out, no matter how small the chance or ridiculous the idea there was always a chance to live.

That wasn't the real problem however; instead it was the fact that Ruby wasn't sure they would all make it out of this if she tried anything.

"The bleedings stopped!" Jaune yelled out.

He was crouched over the slumped form of Weiss. Bandages were stained red and stuck to her side. She was pale, but she was conscious, if only barely.

Ruby had to settle for that at the moment. She pulled the trigger again and a Grimm fell dead. She had a back-up plan; it was a long shot, but if they could just hold out a little longer then it could work.

It was at that moment that the world decided it wasn't done crapping on the eight teens, as a shriek echoed from the heavens.

A Nevermore emerged from the cloud cover, bigger than any should naturally be this close to the school. It shrieked again and Ruby fought the urge to cover her ears.

It circled above them, waiting for its turn to hunt prey.

Well Ruby had had enough of this.

She wasn't going the give the thing a chance to screw them over. Not now of all times.

"Pyrrha, Nora! I need your help, now!"

They didn't hesitate to leave their positions and move to her.

Ruby barked at the champion. "Pyrrha, use your shield to boost us into the air! Nora on my mark send me flying at the Nevermore, then destroy that damn bridge."

"Got it!"

There was nothing more to be said, no words of comfort or confidence, just grim determination.

Ruby took a breath and yelled;

"Fall back! Get off the bridge _now!"_

Ruby didn't wait to see if the others did what they were told, her and Nora were already running at Pyrrha, who had her shield at the ready.

They leaped onto the bronze, the Mistral champion used all her might to propel them upwards, Nora pulled the trigger of Magnhild and sent the both of them rocketing further into the air.

Ten meters.

Fifty meters.

A hundred meters.

"Now!"

Ruby planted both feet onto the flat of the hammer, crouching low as the recoil of the weapon shot her like a bullet, she gripped her scythe. She wouldn't let these Grimm hurt anyone. Not her and not her new friends!

Crescent Rose was armed to kill.

And a white light engulfed them all.

…

…

…

Ruby's eyes _burned._

She couldn't see, she couldn't see!

Her vision was nothing but a white canvas and it felt as if she had been stabbed in her pupils. The wind whipped past her, hair swaying.

She was falling out of the sky; this wasn't a black-out, or a dream.

Someone called her name… who was it?

Ruby blinked.

Her vision returned for an instant before fading back to white.

She could tell the ground was getting closer.

" _Ruby!"_

There was that voice again. Ruby was sure she'd heard it before… Yang?

"RUBY!"

Ruby's landing was rough, but it wasn't fatal. The breath was temporarily knocked out of her as two muscular arms caught her in mid-air.

Something squelched and Ruby smelled blood as Yang let out a pained moan.

"F-fuck!" the older girl ground out.

The crimson Huntress blinked harder, her sight returning slowly, the edges of her vision still tinted white.

"Yang…?" she coughed out.

"Shit sis," Yang laughed weakly. "Whatever it was that you did sure iced those Grimm."

"There… gone?"

"Yeah they-"

Yang never got to finish as _**tHe GRounD ShOok**_ and the blond Huntress neatly fell flat on her face.

Ruby couldn't move, her body too weak from the exertion of just breathing, but she could watch as the monster returned, the Ouroboros burst forth with an ear piecing shriek.

Its body defying gravity as it hung from the cliff face, mouth open wide to devour the eight exhausted teens.

At least it would have, if the older brother of light had not been smiling upon them.

And he answered in a rain of bullets.

The air was singed in a blaze and the earth was rocked.

There was a cheer from someone, probably Nora as half a dozen Bullheads fired at the giant worm; the massive dust shells punching through its disgusting, black flesh.

The creature thrashed in agony and broke the cliff face apart.

Then as if from the hammer of the gods a bolt of lightning struck the beasts head, searing straight though.

With one last death cry the giant fell, into the abyss, and faded from sight.

Yang let out a triumphant cheer and the others were eager to join in.

"We did it! Do you see that sis? We're alive… sis? Ruby?"

The silver eyed girl smiled, as she drifted off to sleeping, letting the white light take her one more, before fading to black.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The first thing Ruby heard as she woke was the steady beeping of a heart monitor. Was it- yes, it was hers, Ruby would have rolled her eyes if they'd been open; they really didn't need that for her. She was fine!

The girl rubbed her eyes and sat up on the bed, she was in the infirmary by the looks of it. But at the moment none of the nurses were around. Maybe they were on break. She noticed that her golden bracelet hadn't been taken off. The Headmaster must have instructed them not to.

A snore caught Ruby's attention and she almost jumped when she realised Yang was there, at her bedside asleep. How had she not noticed the girl? More importantly, how long had she been there?

There were a few strands of blond hair draping over her sleeping sisters face, and every time she breathed they fluttered slightly. It was kind of…

Cute.

Well, despite that, Ruby needed answers so as gently as she could the girl place a hand on her sister's shoulder and shook.

"Yang? Come on wake up."

"W-wha… where am… huh?" Yang murmured sleepily.

Her lilac eyes blinked a few times before see realised where she was. Immediately her body straightened and hands clasped one of Ruby's own.

"Ruby! Oh, finally you're awake. I've been so worried about you."

The smaller girl smiled. "I'm fine Yang. Um… how long have you been there?"

"All day, I would have been here yesterday too but the Doc's needed to patch me up too."

Ruby blinked. "Yesterday? How long have _I_ been here?"

Yang shrugged. "A couple days, the headmaster told us not to worry, that this was normal after what you did…" Yang looked at her strangely. "Hey… Ru? What did you do then, with the Nevermore?"

Ruby's mind immediately went into overdrive, filtering through her memories of the event; a blinding white light… Oz had told her exactly what lie to spin.

She smiled in what she hoped looked sheepish. "I um… may or may not have used a type of experimental dust that may or may not have meant to be used at long range."

Yang blinked and Ruby could practically see her mind put the pieces together. "So… you used this dust too close to the Grimm and it… knocked you out?"

"Y-yeah! That's what happened."

There was silence for a moment as Yang stared wide at her sister before she broke out into laughter, gripping her sides.

"Oh that's funny sis! I didn't think you'd be that crazy!"

Ruby joined in, honestly finding the idea funny herself.

There was a grown from the bed beside them. "Will you dolts be quiet? Some of us are trying to get some rest."

Ruby blinked, craning her neck to look at her neighbour. "Weiss? You're here too?"

The Schnee scoffed. "Yes, and I'm trying to get some sleep so could you at least keep your little reunion at a low volume."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Sure ice-queen, we'll keep it down."

"Excuse me?!"

"Anyway!" Yang said. "Yeah, Weissy has been here too. We all were actually. The eight of us had some pretty serious aura exhaustion. The teachers made sure we all got at least a day's rest. Weiss' here longer because of the hit she took from the Alpha and you've, well, been asleep the whole time."

Ruby shrugged. "Well I feel fine now so you don't have to worry."

Yang smiled. "Yeah."

An awkward silent settled over the two of them.

"Hey… Ruby?" The blond started carefully. "I was uh… well I… I was just wondering… where does this leave us?"

She knew what her sister was trying to say… but she really didn't know how to say it either.

"Listen, Yang I-"

"No, just… let me say what I wanna say. I've had two days to think about it."

Ruby hesitated but nodded despite herself.

"Listen Ruby. I get that we haven't seen each other in a long time, and that you might not like the way I'm handling it so you're pushing me away but… I'm _handling_ it. I just don't want my little sister to disappear again."

She… didn't know what to say to that. Yes she hadn't like the way Yang had been treating her the first two days but… had she really been like that to Yang?

"So, instead of us having these awkward conversations now that we're on a team I thought maybe we could… start over." The blond flinched. "God that sounds cheesy."

The corner of Ruby's lips curled into a smile.

"So what do ya say Ru? We could start off as friends and maybe, work our way back up to sisters."

Yang extended a hand. "Hey, I'm Yang Xiao Long."

Ruby couldn't help it; she burst out in a fit of giggles. Gods she really did sound cheesy.

"Ruby Rose," she said, playing along. "Nice to meet you."

The brawler's face split into a big grin as her little sister shook the hand.

At that moment the doors of the infirmary opened up and Glynda Goodwitch strode in; back straight and riding crop in hand. It amazed Ruby how she could use that thing with a stoic face.

"Children," she said with a nod. "It is good to see you all away now. If you would, Headmaster Ozpin would like to speak with you. Miss Belladonna and Team Juniper are already waiting in his office."

Yang nodded and helped Ruby out of bed even as Weiss muttered something about peace under her breath.

"Team Juniper?" Ruby asked her sister.

"Yeah, the other team! Jaune's the leading Pyrrha, Nora and Ren."

She raised an eyebrow. "So… what's our team."

Yang grinned. "Team RWBY."

"…oh." Ruby gulped.

"Yep!"

"Why?"

"You are not the only one questioning that." Weiss said as they began to follow Miss Goodwitch down the hall.

"Don't get me wrong; I believe you are a competent fighter, but I feel as if the role of leader should go to someone more experienced."

Yang scoffed. "You're just jealous that you weren't picked for team leader."

The Schnee sent an icy glare at fiery blond.

It wasn't long before they stepped into the elevator and entered the Headmasters office; which was already populated by the others as Goodwitch had said:

Blake was at one side of the room, speaking quietly with Ren about something, not too far away Nora was busy having a very animated discussion with Jaune and Pyrrha.

Ozpin nodded. "Miss Rose, it is good to see you and Miss Schnee up. Now that everyone is here, I believe it's time to get down to business."

Ozpin gestured to a holographic screen on his desk, as it flicked to life the two teams watched it play a video; a recording of their battle during initiation. It showed them fighting off hordes of Grimm, and now that they were able to get a good look at it they could see that there had been _hundreds_. Uh… it hadn't really been on their mind to count how many they were killing; too focused on the actual act of surviving.

"This," Ozpin began. "Was an unprecedented number of Grimm for individuals as young as yourselves. You were not expected to combat this many creatures for quite a time. And yet you did. And you succeeded."

He turned to the eight of them.

"It is for this reason that I have come to a decision. It is one I have put much thought into, one that you may either be excited about, or terrified of. It will involve pushing all of you a great deal."

Jaune's eyes flickered to his teammates, who wore a similar one to his own. One that seemed to be a mixture of confusion and trepidation.

"I, along with many of the other staff here have decided to allow the eight of you to carry out mission. Early."

THAT got a reaction. A round of mutters passed over them. Nora and Yang looked positively eager; Jaune looked more than a bit worried at fighting more Grimm so early while Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha and Ren took it with a stoic acceptance.

Ruby narrowed her eyes.

"Anything else professor?" she asked suspiciously. The man smiled.

"Indeed. In fact it has been put forward by Glynda that because you will be taking on these tasks that you should have some more intense training; while regular combat classes will remain there will also be spars and duels with second year students every second day to test your mettle. Academically you will still be attending first year courses but I have spoken to the staff here and allowed the opportunity to take additional studies to expand your knowledge and be ahead of the program if you so choose, I can assure that these will come with a number of benefits."

He scanned them carefully. "This will _only_ be available for the eight of you, since you were the only Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training documented in this academy's life span to face such odds so early on."

Weiss stepped forward, a look passing on her face. "But, professor Ozpin sir, don't you think that this will alienate us from the other first years? Or that it might be a bit much for some of us to handle?"

Even if everyone else did, Ruby didn't miss the way Weiss' eyes moved to her for a moment.

Hpmh! Fine, be that way.

Ozpin looked her in the eyes.

"Miss Schnee, do remember what the first thing I said to all of you was."

Weiss straightened up. "We planned to dedicate our lives to the protection of the people."

He nodded slowly. "Indeed, I did say that. But I also said that all I saw was wasted energy. As a teacher, it is my job to guide my students to be their best, and I could not do that if I did not push you all as this will."

Eventually this seemed to convince both Team RWBY and JNPR that what he was saying was turn, in one way or another, Weiss bowed her head and stepped back into line.

He looked at them. "I understand if some of you feel uncomfortable about taking missions that would otherwise be out of any first year team's league. Which is why a sort of… precaution has been taken; simply put, all first year mission you take will be as normal, a single team shadowed by a Huntsman. Second year mission however will be _both teams_ and a single Huntsman."

Ruby understood the reasoning straight away. "So the teams will need to agree on what missions to take together."

"Correct Miss Rose, this is so that the eight of you will have to understand each other's limits, else a mission be too easy and a waste of time… or too dangerous and result if one of you being killed."

The teens nodded. They understood the consequences.

Ozpin smiled. "I believe that is all I have for you right now, you are dismissed. Oh, but Miss Rose, would you stay a moment please?"

Ruby turned to her team and shrugged. ""You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Yang raised a hand in goodbye as they seven students piled into the elevator… something about hoe Nora was smiling made hr glad she would be going down later.

The doors closed and Ruby turned back to Ozpin, who had two mugs of Coffee in hand.

Ruby sat down on the chair across from him and gratefully accepted the hot mug. She reached into her pockets and pulled out a small flask, pouring the liquid in before taking a sip and sighing.

Her leader raised an eyebrow. "I would usually say that a girl like you should not be drinking alcohol… but then I remember that you had Qrow as a role model."

Ruby chuckled. "Hey, if this is the only bad habit I pick up from my uncle them I'd say I'm fine, besides my aura will protect my liver."

Glynda tutted. "Even so, I would advise you not to do that in front of your teammates, a leader drinking so casually would set a bad example."

"…yeah… why did you-"

"You already know the answer to that Ruby."

She sighed. "It was a spur of the moment thing, and we only barely survived."

Ozpin hummed in agreement. "And yet survive you did. Against startling odds."

The young Huntress sighed, but let the topic go. "So what did you want to talk about Oz?"

"Your eyes Ruby; this is the second time you've been able to activate them. Do you know what happened?"

She winced. "Not really; I mean, one second I'm flying at the Nevermore and the next they all get wiped out."

He leaned back into his chair. "Was there a particular thought going through your mind."

She thought back. "Well… just that… I wanted to protect my friends."

Ozpin and Glynda shared a look.

The woman hummed. "We had a theory on how your magic works Ruby; it seems like it is activated by high levels of emotion… first back then and at this time now. However it does not seem as if the power comes without its drawbacks; you were unconscious for a number of days both times."

Ruby sighed. "Ugh! Magic is stupid! Why can't it just work like a semblance?"

"Because it isn't a semblance." Said a third voice. Ruby turned and a smiled spread to her face.

"Amber! I was wondering where you were."

The tanned girl smiled. "I was settling in. Headmaster Ozpin has gotten a room set up for me. Sorry I could talk to you sooner."

Her apology was waved away. "Yeah well thanks for saving us from the Ouroboros; we didn't have the energy left to take it on."

Amber smiled back and ruffled Ruby's hair suddenly, much to the younger girls protest. "To answer the question before," she began. It's because Magic isn't like a semblance; it hasn't got anything to do with our aura, which is probably the reason why it's become a lost art."

He left eye glowed for a moment before a chair was formed from earth. Ozpin mumbled something about it clashing with the room.

"we can train with our magic to make it stronger and yes, in that way it is a lot like a semblance, but the thing about magic is that because it's connected to the Gods so much it has a sort of… awareness. No, it's not sentient but it does have the option of refusing to work with you. What have I told you Ruby?"

"Magic is not a mortal creation," she recited, having learnt this a long time ago. "It is an act of creating power out of nothing, preforming acts that should be impossible. Like your maiden abilities; you use power stronger than dust without actually using dust, you literally create energy out of nothing, which is why Remnant tries to deny it; with semblances there's a cost that can be gauged but with magic it's kind of… limitless as long as the user can control it."

Amber nodded. "Yes, also our magic has a requirement; the way mine must be passed on to a young female with the willingness to both be kind beyond measure and kill without hesitation. You already know that Qrow uses transformation magic, shapeshifting which means to use it he had inflict pain on his own body, even if it's something small like biting the inside of his cheek. Every type of magic can be taught to someone with the potential of magical energy within them; it's just a question onto what it takes for the power to surface each time."

Ruby slumped back in her chair, taking another swig of Coffee it relax herself. "You're right, I know you're right it's just… frustration that I don't know what triggers my own magic."

"Well that is only natural," Ozpin soothed." Your magic is perhaps even rarer that Amber's. We haven't and the opportunity to study it conclusively. But we at least have a theory that strong emotions cause it. Now if you can learn how to call it without those emotions then you should be able to wield it."

She had to agree, being able to wipe out Grimm like that would be a very useful thing to control. But for now…

"So what happens next?" she asked.

The Headmaster smiled. "Next, you will get some rest, talk with your team a bit more and study. This is still a school Ruby, and I expect you to keep up with the other students. You best catch up with them."

Ruby nodded, standing slowly as she finished off her coffee and gave a mock salute. "Yes sir!" she grinned. She gave Amber a hug before stepping into the elevator and waving as the doors closed.

Ozpin watched the door for a moment longer before sighing.

"Are you sure Amber?"

She nodded. "Yes sir, I'm sure."

Another sigh. "Then we had best get you prepared."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake watched her partner eat carefully. The seven of them were in the cafeteria, sitting together at one of the tables near the windows.

There was a low hum of conversation as most students socialized. Most students, apart from Blake and Yang.

The secret Faunus wasn't because she preferred reading to actual conversations, easily seen by the book in her hand.

And Yang because… well, Blake wasn't sure, but she had a thoughtful look on her face that made the dark haired girl wonder.

"Is there… something wrong?" she tried.

Yang blinked out of her own thoughts to realise she had dazed off. She gave a strained smile. "Nah, it's nothing, just… thinkin'."

Weiss added her own thoughts with a roll of her eyes. "And normally when you are 'thinking' it has something to do with your sister."

Blake hated to admit that she agreed with the Schnee air on that. "Oh look," she said dryly. "The rich girl actually pays attention to us commoners."

Weiss scowled but refused to fall for the dig.

Yang shrugged as the conversation turned towards her. "I don't know it's just… Ruby used a scythe."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Yeah so? I get that their dangerous weapons but-"

The blond shook her head. "It's not that; but my uncle uses a scythe too. Ruby was gone for five years and I only got messages from him during those five years."

Blake nodded slowly. "And you think that they were together that whole time, don't you?"

"I don't just think it; I know it. The question I'm thinking of is that if he could lie to me and dad about something like this… then what else has he been lying about. And just what the hell has my little sister been doing this whole time?"

That was something neither of them could answer.

That was when a bell rang through the cafeteria. Weiss sighed. "Well we had better go, class is about to start soon."

They nodded and stood up.

This was something they could talk about later.

And Yang was going to put a lot of thought into this.

* * *

 **And BAM! Done with this chapter, i'm really excited to know what you guys though of it. Did you know that the fight scene was fourteen pages long? FOURTEEN PAGES! although it was less of a chore and just really fun to write but let me know if you think there's something i could do to improve or if you think there was something i could have just left out.**

 **I can only improve if i'm given constructive criticism.**

 **Welp, I hope you like this and if you did be sure to stick around.**

 **You know the best way to find out when a new chapter comes out? (Shameless plug)**

 **Bu following ofcourse so... uh... do that.**

 **Bye!**


	7. Unrest: Part 1

When Ruby thought of what it meant to be a Huntress she thought of daring battles against Grimm, saving civilians and making the hard choices, the one that would keep normal people up at night.

She thought of it as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world where at any second you could die, she thought of how it was a battle between mankind and the forces that would want to destroy the world.

She… did not think of it like this.

"Monsters! Demons! Creatures of the night! The Grimm have many names, but I call them prey."

She slapped a hand over her face; seriously did this guy really just say that? By the brothers he had a golden bust of himself!

"And so will you as you learn to ways of Huntsmen. Here at Beacon with the aid of people like myself who have journeyed out into the world and combated the beasts. My class in particular will be on the study of Grimm themselves; their biology, killing habits and general behaviour. I hope you all pay close attention to what I am going to teach you this school year."

Well, that was always something Ruby could get behind – know your enemy – and all that. The eight of them were suddenly a lot more attentive than they usually would have been; they had fought against a great number of them after all… The other students didn't seem as enthusiastic, in fact most seemed as if they didn't really think they'd need to know that sort of thing.

She could understand it though; as far as most of them were concerned they only needed to know how to kill them. Combat classes were what most of them wanted to be right now instead.

"Now, to begin you must all know that for years the kingdoms of Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and Atlas have been buildings settlements throughout the land for people to live in. the capital cities however have always been the safest places, completely protected against Grimm hordes."

"This is possible due to the work of what has been dubbed 'city defences' for obvious reasons. These include automated turrets, scanners, walled infrastructure and of course, Huntsmen."

He gazed out among the students. "We are arguably the best line of defence against the Grimm. We are also the first. And the last." He said more solemnly. "Huntsmen and Huntresses are people trained to fight the creatures of Grimm. But we are expected to do much more than that; the people expect us to serve them faithfully, protect them readily and to die for them proudly."

There was a series of angry mutters from many of the students, some even whispering under their breaths that they would never die for a civilian.

"But that is where I come in!" the professor proclaimed, back to his jovial attitude. "With my aid I will teach you the necessary knowledge needed to survive against the onslaught of Grimm you will no doubt face eventually. Now, as today is our first class together we will be going over some of the basic types of Grimm, and then delving a bit deeper into one category specifically. First off, can anyone tell me the four main Grimm most common in the Kingdom of Vale?"

Ruby's hand shot into the air faster than anyone else's (thank her semblance for that) this was something she knew like the back of her hand after exploring the wilderness of Vale for so long.

Professor Port smiled beneath his bushy moustache. "Ah! Miss Rose! I applaud you on being so eager to participate, now, what is your answer?"

Ruby nodded, more to herself. "The four most common in Vale, or at least by ratio to other kingdoms are Boaratusks, Ursa, Creep and Beowolves. We can still have a large number of almost any other type of Grimm but these are the most reported seen in Vale."

The burly man clapped his hands together. "Excellent Miss Rose! Yes, as she has said class these four kinds of Grimm are most frequent in our own kingdoms compared to others; while Deathstalkers are more common in places like Vacuo for example."

He gestured to a box behind him. "This is the point in class where I demonstrate one of these four Grimm in particular; the Boaratusks. If you look at the diagram I have drawn out behind me you will see that they have the animal structure of a boar, the thing they are quite obviously named after."

He nodded to the students, who seemed to have finally taken an interest. "For a long time it was thought that this Creatures were slow, in that the only way they were a threat was when they fought you head-on. However it was later established that Boaratusks have almost three hundred and sixty degree vision thanks to its four eyes."

Ruby winced; she knew first-hand about how their eyes made it almost impossible to sneak up on them. It seemed she wasn't the only one with thoughts like that.

"But sir," Weiss said as she raised a hand. "I've often heard that Huntsmen have been able to surprise them. How is that possible if there vision is as good as you say?"

"A valid question Miss Schnee, one that researchers have been asking for a very long time, however all they have been able to deduce is that every _other_ sense it has is significantly weaker to that of mankind's physiology."

He sighed. "I will be honest with all of you; even after centuries, we have made next to no true advancements in Grimm science. We do not know what their motivations are, if there are truly intelligent beings among them or even where they come from. All we know is how to kill them… However that in itself may save lives, be it those of a helpless civilian or your own. So I hope you pay attention to this, make sure to take notes."

The atmosphere in the classroom was much more sombre after that; students doing as they were told and taking notes as Professor Port spoke. Most of them probably found it boring, like yang and Nora. But whether it was from the feeling of guilt people got from _not p_ aying attention or the genuine fear of dying to the Grimm they listened.

Port went into very specific detail about the Boaratusk's; their size, weight, speed, strength. The man spoke about how they were usually found near cliffs or deep in forests instead of open plains. He told them about their armoured plating that was tough enough to fend off most conventional weaponry. And there was so much more; its weakness of an unarmoured stomach, how it was rare to see more than one at a time if it wasn't during a scourge… or how they were documented to crush the corpses of its victims underfoot.

Ruby could give him credit where it was due; the man knew his stuff. That was probably why he was a professor.

Eventually, class ended and the students filed on to their next one. Ruby wasn't really paying attention to where she was going; instead simply content to listen to Yang speak as they walked down the halls.

"Yeah I get what he's saying; know your enemy and all that," the blond shrugged. "But I only need to know how to kill them. Sure it's nice to know where it hurts em' the most but we already showed just how much ass we kick!"

Blake chuckled beside them. "Well… when you put it like that I'm sure they'll teach you something more useful."

"You think?"

"…No."

"Awww." Yang moaned. "Ruubbbyyy, Blake's being mean to me again."

The shorted girl blinked. "What do you want me to do about it?"

Her sister gave her a light tap on the shoulder. "You're team leader; give her a scolding to tell her just how _bad_ she's been."

"Oh no," Blake said in a monotone voice. "Please don't do that Ruby, I'm really sorry for what I said." She clearly wasn't.

Ruby gave a dramatic sigh. "Well, despite you saying that Yang's right, I am team leader. I have to tell you when you should be doing something or not. This has to be done, I'm sorry."

She spun round to face her older sister, on finger pointed as if to chastise a puppy.

"No! Bad Yang!"

"What! Why?!"

Ruby shook her head, her face mock serious. "For not listening in class young lady."

"I listened!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then what were the four common types of Grimm."

Yang began to sweat slightly. "Um… heh heh, I uh… well they're… um."

Ruby threw her hands up into the air. "That was the only thing I said that entire class!"

Blake snickered behind them, but the red Huntress wasn't done; she turned to the other girl and gave a scowl that wasn't really that serious.

"And you missus, don't think I didn't catch what you were doing! Reading in class, just awful."

The dark haired girl froze, her face suddenly turning to a lovely shade of red. She gulped. "You… saw that?"

She nodded. "I don't know what you were reading but it's still not okay to ignore the teacher miss belladonna."

Blake nodded, her face cooling down. They hadn't seen the book, she was fine. Or… she would have told herself that, if Yang wasn't giving her the biggest shit-eating grin she'd ever seen.

Damn her.

The banter between the two older Huntresses-in-training continued as they reached their next class.

Combat training. Yang let out a low whistle

Ruby couldn't blame her:

The room was huge, bigger than even the ball room. There was a stadium of sorts in the centre, big enough for two teams to go at it, and seats all around the side for other students to watch. The slight shimmer gave a hint at the protective field separating the battle area from the spectators.

In the stands people were already seated, dotted around the room. It was easy enough to pick out their friends up there; Nora was having a bubbly conversation with Jaune on her left and Ren on her right, whatever it was they were talking about it looked like the two boys had come to an agreement on something. It must have been funny because Nora was laughing her head off… or… that could have just been Nora.

Next to the trio was Weiss and Pyrrha, talking about something quietly, Ruby couldn't make out what it was.

"Looks like someone's interested in their teammate."

The scythe wilder blinked and looked at Blake, who had her focus on the duo.

"You can hear them?" Ruby asked in surprise.

A nod. "Bits and pieces, looks like the Schnee is complaining about something… not entirely sure what, but Pyrrha's trying to calm her down. Or maybe emphasise with her I don't know."

Ruby would have asked more but the bell rang to signal the start of class. The three of them going over to the group which, had pretty much become an established thing.

The silver eyed girl plopped herself down beside her partner, with Yang and Blake taking the seat behind them to look over their heads.

The clicking of heels brought their attention to the floor below, and Glynda Goodwitch strode into the centre for the entire class to see.

"Good afternoon students. Today we will be having our first sparing match. As some of you may know they had been postponed until everyone recovered. Now that team RWBY and JNPR are able to attend we will be testing their might against of few of your own. So without further waiting; Cardin Winchester, make your way down to the combat zone. Your opponent will be Pyrrha Nikos."

Yang let out a tiny little huff beside Ruby. It looked like she'd wanted to be the first one to fight.

Well despite the blonds wishes it was the Mistral champion who was picked. The red head already stepping up to the fighting area, her walk suggested confidence.

Ruby was looking forward to seeing what Pyrrha could do; she'd fought at long range during initiation but judging by Cardin's weapon – a mace – he wouldn't give her that chance.

And by the looks of it, he didn't even see her as a threat if his own stance was anything to go by; his heavy weapon resting in his shoulder, leaving him wide open to any enemy that could cross that distance fast enough… and that smile of his screamed arrogance, like he didn't think the warrior girl would give him a problem.

Pyrrha readied herself; shield raised to protect her face and weapon held at eye level, it was in its spear configuration. The champion's knees were bent, coiled like a spring and ready to kick off at a split-seconds notice.

Miss Goodwitch stood at the side, watching them carefully. The audience was silent, waiting for action. Someone could have blinked and they'd have heard it.

"Begin!"

The champion shot off like a bullet.

Fast, that was what came to mind first for Ruby; Pyrrha was fast, not to the same extent as her own semblance, but the way she moved just seemed more direct.

Cardin barely got his mace up as the red head closed the gap, rushing into his range, but instead of stabbing with her spear she barrelled into him with her shield.

The bigger student let out a grunt as he stumbled back a little but she wasn't done with him yet; the Spartan thrust her pole arm into his face with deadly speed. Cardin just barely managed to avoid it by throwing his head to the side, but that was the plan.

Suddenly Pyrrha changed her grip on Miló and smashed the shaft on the side of his head.

A roar of cheering echoed around the room as Cardin stumbled back once again, his aura taking a dip.

Nora threw a fist in the air, somehow managing to appear beside Ruby.

"Gooooo Pyrrha! Kick his butt!"

Ruby heard Yang let out an appreciative noise. "Damn, Pyrrha's awesome! She's trashin' the guy."

Weiss scoffed. "I thought that would have been obvious; Pyrrha is no doubt the most experienced when it comes to combating other people."

She wasn't wrong: the Mistral champion was amazing, her body working like a machine, every movement graceful and without a single wasted effort.

It was no exaggeration to say she was dominating the opposition.

Yang grinned. "Are you jealous of that Ice Queen?"

The Schnee glared at her. "Of course not, I can just appreciate an excellent fighter. We could defeat her easily… with the right leadership… something I am sceptical of"

"Huh?"

Before Ruby could ask what she meant by that the buzzer sounded, signalling the end of the fight. Of course it was Pyrrha who came away with the win.

Pyrrha… didn't seem as happy as she had thought she would have been. She stood awkwardly in the ring as people in watching began to whisper among each other.

 _The invincible girl_

That was what Ruby could hear being whispered under peoples breath. Was that what they called Pyrrha? Was that how she managed to get into the Beacon?

She didn't know; out in the wildlands there was never much of an opportunity to catch up on what regular people enjoyed. So she might have missed out on the opportunity to see what the red-head could really do.

She didn't seem happy about it though… not at all.

Nora cheered for her anyway and when Cardin stomped off the stage her team was congratulating her on the easy win. Ruby would have said something herself but Glynda had already ordered them back to their seats.

Surprisingly none of the others from team RWBY or JNPR were called to fight, instead they simply got to enjoy the matches.

Eventually the bell rang out and they were excused. That was good in her opinion, since they had only been at Beacon for a little while the classes hadn't been as... frequent. It felt like the teachers were giving them time to settle in so that they weren't overwhelmed.

Team RWBY had said their farewells to the other team and they had made their separate ways back to their dorms.

Even though they were literally across the hall from each other Team JNPR had decided to take another route.

They piled into their room, and one by one sat on their beds: Yang practically fell into hers like she hadn't a care in the world; Blake was more subtle, crawling onto the bed and leaning against her wall with a book already in hand. Weiss sat daintily on hers, legs crossed and back straight.

Ruby noticed something.

"Do you guys think this place is a bit… crowded?"

They others looked around, it was true; each of them had a bed at one corner of the room, and each had their luggage crammed in around said furniture. Weiss and Yang had the most, more than a few cases and bags while Blake and Ruby had… very little.

What they did have however had no room to be stored so it was a moot point anyway. Everything was thrown around the room and all in all it just looked quite messy.

Blake shrugged. "What should we do then? It's not like we can ask for more closet space."

Ruby put a hand on her chin in thought and hummed aloud. When an idea struck her head on.

"I got it! We get bunkbeds!"

Weiss scowled. "Bunk beds? Seriously? I don't think any of us would –"

"That's a great idea Ru, sign me up." Yang said with a grin as she hopped off her bed. Weiss didn't look impressed.

"Well you might think it is but it two on –"

Blake snapped her book shut and nodded. "It _would_ be efficient in saving space." She agreed.

The Schnee heiress gaped. _"You too?!"_ she gasped out in shock. "This is ridiculous, not to mention dangerous."

Yang shrugged. "Not really, we have aura so the most we could get if we fall is a bruise or two."

Still she didn't look won over but reluctantly agrees to help as they set to work rearranging their room. Weiss almost immediately takes a shining to the task of telling them what to do. Ruby would have thought that it would make her happy; she seemed like the kind of person who was confident being in control but instead she just seemed to get angrier and angrier.

The youngest huntress-in-training decided not to ask why for fear of her own safety.

A while later they'd finished: Weiss and Blake had taken the bottom bunks at either side of the room while the two sisters had claimed the top as their own domain. It…didn't look safe. Fun! But not safe.

The only thing keeping Yang's new bed up was the plethora of books that Blake had brought with her. (Although she vicious when it came to them asking just _what_ the books were about.) Ruby's wasn't so much connected to Weiss' than it was suspended by many lengths of rope.

She grinned. "Great job team RWBY! So, what's next on the agenda?"

The white haired girl perked up with an eager smile. "Studying of course, we were given work to catch up on remember; so now seems a good a time as any to do just that."

Oh…

Ruby let out a tiny little whine that she didn't think Weiss heard, or just chose to ignore it. Blake on the other hand let the corner of her mouth twitch up at the younger girl's expense.

After a minute however they settled down with their textbooks. Specifically; they had to catch up on the information their history teacher – Doctor Oobleck – had espoused to the rest of the class. No doubt team JNPR would be working on this too soon enough.

It was just that… well…

Ruby was lost pretty quickly.

The others noticed too, how could they not?

"Ru," Yang said slowly from her spot beside Blake on their bottom bunk. "Are you ok? You've had this confused look on your face for a minute now."

"Y-yeah," she lied badly. "everything's fine."

"Obviously not." Weiss said with an icy scowl. "Can you not pay attention or do you just not care?"

Ruby looked at her in shock. "What? Why would you say that? Of course I –"

Blake was careful in her defence of her team leader. "I think, that Ruby's having trouble because she hasn't had the chance to study this topic before… she was moved up two years remember?"

Ruby looked down at her lap. For some reason it felt as if it was shameful for her _not_ to know much about the Human and Faunus war. She knew it was, and the little twist in her stomach was just making it worse.

Weiss didn't seem happy about that. "If you had any initiative then, you might have decided to learn a little about it in Signal before you were accepted into Beacon."

"She didn't go to signal." Yang whispered quietly, looking at her little sister with sad eyes that Ruby for the life of her couldn't place the reasoning behind.

Weiss blinked, thrown off and turned to look at her leader straight on. "You went to Sanctum then?"

"No." Was the tiny response

"The academy in Atlas then? If was home schooled myself so I would not have noticed you. Was that it?"

"No."

Weiss' face scrunched a little. "You didn't go to Vacuo's school of the gifted did you? It's filled with ruffian."

"No."

The Schnee lost her patience. "Then where did you go?!" she question with a slash of her hand through the air. "There isn't many other institutions that –"

Weiss stopped as the pieces clicked together in her head, and she looked down at Ruby with dawning horror. "You… didn't go to combat school did you Beacon's the first you've ever attended." It was a statement, not a question and when Ruby didn't nothing to deny it – instead seeming to shrink further into herself – Weiss recoiled in shock, moving away from the younger girl.

Blake and Yang watched the confrontation quietly, not sure what to say.

Weiss made up plenty for that as she finally exploded, on her feet and pacing back and forth.

"I don't believe this! I can't believe this! You're not even qualified to be here, you have none of the education that the rest of us have and yet _somehow_ you were picked as team leader. Does Headmaster Ozpin know? He must know if he allowed you to join. This is ridiculous. I can believe this!"

"Well so what?!" Ruby finally yelled back. She had stood up now too, glaring up at the girl. "Why are you so mad about this? You were fine with me when we were put together as partners. Why are you suddenly being mean to me now? And I know you have, I've noticed all the little things you said, and all the looks you've given me. So WHY!"

Weiss growled at her and despite the hostile gesture neither of their teammates moved to intervene, perhaps unaware of what they _could_ do.

"You want to know why? It's very simple so remember it. A Schnee. Doesn't. Follow. I was fine with you as a partner because you were competent in battle despite your age, but thought you were too young, to inexperienced to lead a team of deadly fighters, and now that I find out you haven't even the most fundamental theory work of what they teach you the years leading up to choosing one of the Huntsman Academies I know I was right."

Ruby only glared harder, her silver eyes burning holes into Weiss' head. "So you hate the idea that you have to follow me because you think I'm beneath you is that it? Wow, it must have embarrassed you so much to be paired with someone like me then. I bet you were almost sick at the idea."

Weiss snarled, but didn't deny it. Ruby didn't want to admit it to herself but that stung quite a bit. But the older girl wasn't finished.

"It doesn't matter; I _won't_ follow someone who has no idea what they're doing. It's clear, Ozpin made a mistake. And I intend to take it up with the Headmaster right now!"

Before Ruby could say anything in response Weiss stormed out of the room.

For some reason, Yang decided to go after her without a word or even a look in her younger sisters' direction.

A moment later there was silence. Ruby sank down back onto the bed and let out a long, frustrated sigh. Blake was still here she noticed, and was not looking at her book. Instead she made some kind of noise at the back of her throat that Ruby couldn't catch and moved to sit beside her team leader; resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Meanwhile in the hallway Yang had to jog to catch up to Weiss' furious pace.

"Hey Weice queen," she called out. "Wait a sec so we can talk."

She white haired girl turned to the taller girl with a frost glare. "What do you want Xiao-long? I'm in no mood for games if you haven't noticed."

The blonde raised her hands in a surrendering gestured. "Look," she said "Can we just have a moment to hash this out?"

She let out a long, suffering breath before schooling her features from furious to stoic but she did not speak.

She didn't need to.

Yang gave a relieved smile. "Alright then."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Roman considered himself a smart man. That wasn't arrogance talking, even if he was aware that sometimes he tended to lean towards letting his ego show.

He had to be smart; you didn't become a master criminal and world renowned thief without something working properly inside your skull.

He also was no stranger to betrayal, by colleges, underlings and sometimes clients. Whether it was a shank in the back or a tip off to the police he had become well aware of the risks when it came to hiring and being hired.

Which was why when he took the job from Cinder, he recognised it as probably one of the stupidest mistakes he'd ever made. It wasn't like he could have said no though; that woman could turn him to ash without so much as breaking a sweat. All his confidence and bravo aside the jaw dropping, beautiful woman absolutely terrified him.

So when he was scheduled to meet with her he was understandable tense. It was an uncomfortable feeling; his muscles were rigid, his teeth clenched and even his skin felt too tight.

No! He had to be confident when facing Cinder, or failing that he needed to at least fake it. If she thought for a second that he was useless he had no doubt she could arrange a nice and cosy visit to the crematorium.

He took a steadying breath as he came to a small door within the far corner of one of their warehouses. He swung it open with all the confidence he didn't feel and grinned cockily.

There she was, sitting relaxed on one of the luxurious couches he had stolen from across the city of Vale. She didn't even look in his direction as he approached her, so insignificant he must have been to her. Instead she sits further back and pours a glass of wine for herself. Vintage he notices idly, as if his mind in racing so fast he manages to pick up that insignificant detail.

He stand there, not sitting without her permission (the way she likes it) this woman seemed to have _some_ kind of complex, although Roman hadn't figured it out yet. All he knew is that she _loved_ being in control.

"Roman," she finally says in that silky voice of hers that could either promise a man the world or end it just as fast. "It is good to see you arrive on time. Even for a thief it seems you have good punctuality."

He gives a half-shrug, not trusting himself to say something smart. He does manage something however. "Yeah well, can't be late when it comes to robbing people. Heists are normally very time specific… teaches you proper manners and all that."

She smiled, although Roman doubted it was because of anything he'd said. Out of the corner of his eye he just noticed her two lap-dogs standing in the corner. Little-miss-pickpocket and her silver haired boyfriend or whatever; both were shooting him glares.

"Sit." Was all she said, but the order was clear. The thief did as he was told, sitting on the couch opposed to her. His back was stiff even as he pretended to relax, Roman wasn't sure if she'd picked up on that or not.

"Your report over the past month has been rather odd Roman, particularly when you were thwarted in a dust robbery earlier this week. I hope that you did not find yourself in too much trouble."

He shrugged again. "A huntress was closer by than I'd expected and managed to catch me red handed. I got away clean enough though, even if I didn't steal everything I wanted. That was all he said about it; he wasn't going to tell Cinder that he'd mostly been fought off by two brats barely into their teens. If she heard that she might start questioning his usefulness… and he didn't want to know where that would lead him.

Luckily for him she didn't seem all to bothered by it.

"It is a small setback, so I will forgive it this time," she allowed with a small smile. "But do try to do better next time. You can start making up for the error by meeting with white fang members at our other warehouses. I already have a few White Fang groups moving into a frontier village not far from here, Grainsal I do believe it was called. While they deal with things there I expect you to hold up your own end."

Roman nodded and opened his mouth to speak, before a third voice came from the way he entered.

"So this is where you're hold up in. fitting. I always expected you to delve into the trash of this city, with how much you have failed our lady."

The thief gaped as he turned to stare at the man. Did this guy seriously just say that? To Cinder?!

A second later he realised that the guy hadn't been burned to a crisp yet and turning back to look at Cinder showed that she was anything but relaxed: the corner of her mouth was downturned and her hands had tightened into fits.

"Watts." Was all she said.

The man smirked arrogantly and sat down (without the permission Roman had to seek) he turned to Roman.

"Why don't you run along thief? This isn't the time for… people… like you."

He hesitated for just a second, but when no words came from cinder's direction and all he _could_ see from her was a heated glare he decided that perhaps leaving was the best thing for his health.

He left without saying anything, and when he closed the door behind him he sank against it.

That… had been nerve racking, and it had only lasted a few seconds!

"Neo," he finally said at last and a girl fazed into his sight.

She had hair toned two completely different colours: pink and brown. And her mismatched eyes were no better. She was short, although he'd never say that to her face less he risk a blade in his kidney.

She was also a mute and had a way of communication with just her twisted smiles.

"We need to get this right." He told her. "I have a feeling that if we screw up we won't even see it coming."

Neo seemed to agree.

Just what had they gotten themselves into?

* * *

 **So... I'm back after a long while.**

 **I won't say that it was a planned break but it was a needed one: I've gotten this whole story planed out now and I know where i'm going with it up to VOL 4. Things might change when the next volume comes out but until then this is what I have.**

 **At least I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are willing to stick around for the next one.**

 **Thank you.**


	8. Unrest: Part 2

Cinder glared at the man across from her. Her amber eyes practically burning holes in his head. It didn't seem to disturb the man though; in fact it looked as if his arrogant smile had grown wider because of it.

Her voice came out with venom and she felt her two subordinates tense from their position.

Good.

"I will not repeat myself Watts. Answer the question."

This time he complied. But not without looking like he was being generous in giving her an explanation instead of being ordered to. The thought made her blood boil.

"I was sent here by our lady to assist you in your… little goals."

She snarled at him. "I do not need your help with my plans, do not presume to think differently."

He smirked. "Ah yes, because failing to acquire the Maidens full powers is a sure sign that you do not need my help. How did that happen by the way? You should have been able to deal with one girl, even if that Huntsman came in at the end."

She did not respond as her fingers sank into the leather of her seat. It was a mistake; as when she did that Watts grinned arrogantly again at her.

"That is what I thought. As such I've decided to call in a few of my own contacts. Doctor Merlot is-"

Cinder was not sure if it was the name of that man himself or the fact that Watts had the gall to utter it in front of her, but as soon as it passed his lips the air around them became a scorching blaze.

" _You what!"_ She snarled. "You spoke to that man knowing full well he would be in contact with me."

"Ah yes, Salem did mention the two of you had a… history of some sorts, but to be frank with you Cinder that is none of my concern. Merlot has owned a seat at our able far longer than you, and now our lady has decided it is time to put him into action. You're expected to put petty feelings aside." With that he stood up, brushing himself off of some invisible layer of dust and turned to leave, still with that arrogant smirk on his face.

The half-maiden grit her teeth in frustration. Though she loathed to admit it, she needed his aid, and if Salem had ordered it she couldn't very well refuse. For the moment, she was stuck with him. The door shut behind him and there was silence.

Cinder let loose a growl. "Mercury, Emerald."

Both snapped to attention behind her.

"Go and speak with Torchwick, have him recruit more men what every way he can. I will not tolerate failure even once."

" **Yes ma'am!"**

Cinder sighed. Damn that man, and damn Salem for tolerating him.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Can we just have a moment to hash this out?"

Weiss gave the blonde Huntress-in-training an ice look but didn't protest. the girl said nothing as she kept walking but allowed Yang to walk beside her.

Yang nodded. "Alright then," there was an awkward pause."

Weiss raised an eyebrow impatiently. "Well? What have you to say Xiao-Long?"

The taller girl sighed. "I'm just trying to think of the best way to put this…"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh? Are you going to tell me I shouldn't go to the headmaster? That maybe I should just accept that our leader really doesn't have the qualifications to _lead_ us."

"No…" yang murmured. "I'm saying that I agree with you."

Weiss stopped, turning to stare at her teammate with a startled expression. The brawler looked both ways to see if the hallway was occupied. When she found that it wasn't she sighed and leaned against the wall.

"I agree that it's weird that the headmaster would appoint my little sister as the leader of our team… and I think it's more than a little shady that she was able to get into Beacon with no official training or anything but… I don't think you need to be so hard on her."

The Schnee heiress slumped a little at that, suddenly looking tired. It seemed like she wasn't the kind of person capable of holding onto her anger. "It's not that," she said eventually. "It's just that… already Beacons… not what I expected it to be." She paused, looking like she was fighting to find the right words before motioning with her hands.

"It's… different. So… so different. I expected rules and regulations to be the utmost of importance, that the teacher would be distant, polite and professional, but instead we have the terrifying miss Goodwitch, professor Port with his long winded stories and on or first day they threw us off a cliff."

With each teacher mentioned Weiss seemed to deflate more and more, but still Yang stayed quiet, letting the shorter girl shed her thoughts.

"And… I suppose I should have realized that it wouldn't have been what I had in mind from the very first minute of initiation. I should have known that it wasn't going to get what I wanted."

"What was it that you wanted?" Yang asked hesitantly. "To be team leader?"

Weiss sighed, and slid down the wall beside Yang, sitting down miserably. After a moment of thought the blonde followed suite.

"I didn't have an issue with not being the leader of this team; my father always said 'Schnee's lead, they do not follow'… I didn't want to be like him, to try and force that opinion on others and make myself team leader. But… look, I don't look down of your sister: Ruby is a competent fighter, she has the potential to be a great partner. I'm just not sure someone her age can take that kind of responsibility when she hasn't been groomed for it. _I_ was and I don't know if I'm ready for it, and because of that in my mind I go through all the scenarios in which this ends in failure and I…" she trailed off, falling into silence.

After a minute or two it was Yang that sighed this time. "You know… I might not know what you feel completely, but I kind of understand your worry about this team. I mean, if you take a good look at us even from the outside you might not notice anything, but I don't think everyone's being that honest; hell, my own sister wouldn't explain where she's been all this time."

Weiss looked her way. "Are you still concerned about that? Isn't it better that she's here now?"

Yang's eyes hardened. "A... a number of people have walked out of my life… I finally have the chance to find out why at least one of them did. I'm not gonna let it go that easy."

"About that… you… you said that Ruby didn't go to Signal, but you also said that she didn't go to any other school, and you were concerned that she might have been with your uncle correct?"

She nodded. "Yeah… so far I don't have a great track record with the people important in my life sticking around."

There was a pause.

Weiss sighed. "Then what is it you would have me do exactly?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know; just… give her a chance. A chance to see what she can do before you decide if this is a real problem or not."

The heiress gave a final sigh before climbing to her feet with the brawler following her lead. "Alright, for now I'll give her the benefit of the doubt… maybe... that's what I should do after her being so accepting of me when we first met... _but_ I reserve the right to change my judgment, if she cannot prove that she is a competent team leader then iI will be very vocal about my complains."

Yang grinned and punched the girl's arm lightly. "That's the spirit! Now come on, you should be getting back, no clue what kind of trouble our two teammates could be getting' up to."

She nodded, turning to walk back to their room. Yang held up for a moment longer, her smile fades slightly as she looked down the hall both ways.

 _There was that feeling again._

When Weiss was out of sight and she was sure no one else was there to see, she reached for the bottle in her pocket.

And downed the pills.

* * *

…

…

Ruby shut her eyes hard, trying to focus of anything stable. Her mind took in the minute details she could feel the crackling of energy as her hand tightened around the shaft of Crescent Rose.

Her body shook as she searched within herself, he breath became labours and fast, with every second that ticked by her muscles tensed more and more.

She needed a focus, she needed to find it!

Where…. Where was it?

Where was that strength from before?

Her heart hammered in her chest and she grit her teeth. More; she needed to focus harder, to reach for that tiny spark that had saved her life twice before.

Her legs began to tremble and she growled in frustration.

' _Come on!'_ she hissed in her mind. _'I just need something ANYTHING to see.'_

Wait! What was that? In the darkness of her consciousness her mind's eye could see the tiniest of sparks. It was a flame of the coldest silver, flickering desperately.

She reached out, feeling its warms, its life, its-

It slipped.

No,no,no! It was so close, it had to be, yet with every second the distance seemed to grow. Her body strained with effort to maintain her focus and –

"That is enough Miss Rose, do not push yourself anymore." As if a spell had been broken Ruby was suddenly shunted back to reality, and when she became aware of herself she realized how weak she felt.

The silver eyed girl's legs buckled and she dropped to the ground panting. Above her Miss Goodwitch eyed her with concern, and for good reasons.

Three days ago Ruby had come to her, it had been right after an argument she had with one of her teammates. The young girl had insisted on some kind of training to take her mind off it.

The woman herself would have gone with combat training, bit the Headmaster had suggested she try tapping into the power of her eyes again. From the single-mindedness it needed Glynda could understand Ozpin's reasoning, but the mental stress it put on the girl left a bad taste in her mouth.

All the same Ruby had thanked her after the first day and come back the next, informing her that her and Miss Schnee had… smoothed things over. It was far from perfect but there did not seem to be any hostilities from them.

This was the third day and the strain on the Huntress-in-training was beginning to show and the frustration too was growing. To the point where Miss Goodwitch and taken it upon herself to monitor Ruby's state.

But she just kept pushing.

"I'm fine professor," she gasped between breaths. "I've barely done anything, I just… h-hey!"

Ruby cried out in shock as her limbs froze up, ignorant of her commands. This was because the Professor had decided that the best way to stop a young huntress was to restrain them with her semblance.

"Miss _Goodwitch!"_ Ruby whined, but the woman just shook her head unapologetically.

"It would be wise for you to do as you teacher tells you Miss Rose, I will not have you exhausted today. If you fall asleep in class I will not let you go without a detention."

The girl pouted but gave in with a nod. "Fine, but I'll be back later to try again… hey; do you know where Amber is? I thought that maybe she could give me a few more pointers on magic."

"From what I know she is with the Headmaster," Glynda supplied. "I believe he is mentoring her on how to use her own powers… she is inexperienced… she is not a fighter, he is making sure that she will be."

Ruby gave a sad smile. "You don't sound happy about it, do you?"

The blonde sighed. "I will never be happy about sending children to their deaths… but it is something I have realised is an inevitability with training young Huntsmen, and now to invite a girl with not even that desire into our secret war…"

The silver eyed girl blinked. "What about me? I'm younger than anyone else here."

She received a glare in response. "And you know very well my stance on such affairs; if I did not think it better to inform you of the dangerous on your life then I would have made sure that not even Ozpin would have been able to recruit you."

Heh… oops.

The Professor fixed her glasses with one hand as she released Ruby from her hold. "You have had plenty of time here, it would not be wise for you to miss your next class."

"Wait, when is that exactly?"

"Four minutes from now."

"What!"

Of course Ruby made it on time, her semblance saving her neck this time and she just managed to make it before the bell rang out.

Her seat was beside Weiss at the end of one of the tables; her team was aligned together with team JNPR beside them. Behind them as Team CRDL, although by the looks of it they were pointing and laughing at a Faunus girl in the corner. It was obvious to Ruby that they were racist, it was probably obvious to everyone. They couldn't do anything in class to her though.

Great! At least that meant-

There was a gust of wind as something green blurred past her vision.

"Greetings class! I am Professor Oobleck and I will be your history teacher for the semester and the rest of your time at Beacon should I not have a catastrophic heart failure moving on our first order of business will be to study the Faunus Rights Revolution no questions? Good let's begin."

Ruby could only gasp at the man who spoke so fast not even her with her speed semblance had been able to keep up, had he even stopped to breathe? It didn't matter by the looks of it because he was already righting something up on the board behind him.

Ruby let out a long whine that went unheard by the rest of the class… mostly because they were just as distressed as she was. Seriously, what was with the teachers in Beacon being so weird?

If she had paid more attention she may have noticed Blake looking around nervously, why wouldn't she? This was her history, and now she'd hear exactly what it was that they taught the people meant to protect everyone.

Would they ridicule the Faunus? Paint them as villains? After everything the White Fang had done, she expected it to be so if only so that-

"To understand we must first the horrible treatment of Faunas before the war."

Eh?!

"To put it plainly, the Faunus population all over the world was treated as sub-human- as in seen by the masses as nothing more than animals… and in some cases they were victims of these mistreatments were then ignored by the authorities, after all… human rights were of no concern when dealing with animals –or at least – that was the view at the time."

There was a low mutter throughout the class, many throwing uncertain looks to the only visible Faunus in the class: a girl with rabbit ears, hair and eyes all of the same brown colour. Velvet Scarlatina fidgeted slightly as eyes were drawn to her.

Oobleck continued, "Many of the atrocities inflicted on Faunus kind have been 'swept under the rug' so to speak, but in an effort to teach only the truth historians have been able to salvage some of the… more common practices." In his hands was a list and the students suddenly tensed, perhaps afraid of what they might hear. The Doctors eyes sharped behind his glasses as he gazed upon his class. "For some of you this may incite uncomfortable feelings, perhaps it might not be standard, but if some of you feel as if this is too upsetting for you, you can leave at any time.

No one moved

The green hair man nodded. "Very well. I would like to state that these happened very early in our history, these things have not been repeated in the last five hundred years, but _have_ existed of over a millennia. These atrocious acts… are as follows;

The hunting of fox Faunus for sport, an engaging activity for those of the middle class, the slave fights in the slums between different slave Faunus youth and the experimentation of drugs and dust on Faunus by the hands of even doctors."

Gasps could be heard all around. Blake could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as the list grew on and on, a horrible feeling settled in her stomach and her ears flattened on her head within the bow. Luckily everyone else was caught up in their own shock to notice… she didn't feel very lucky about it though.

Blake didn't need to look around to know how others felt; the secret Faunus could imagine the pale faces and expressions, she was among them: this was new to her, not even the White Fang was aware of this, something that would have helped their recruitment cause immensely.

Again. Blake was horrified.

But Doctor Oobleck was not finished, and with a grave face and to slow pace he delivered the final nail in the coffin.

"And perhaps the most luxurious, extravagant thing for the rich… was to … was to… consume delicacies such as young Faunus children."

It was hell.

There was not a single person who was able to remain calm; even the quiet Ren was one his feet, though mainly to try and restrain the berserker that was Nora from destroying everything in her path from pure rage, simply in an effort to express what she was feeling.

Many could agree with the sentiment.

Things just seemed to… slow for Blake as she took a look around.

Beside her, her partner was practically on fire, wait… no, she was on fire; her golden mane was alight with flame and her eyes were crimson.

Her other side –where Weiss sat – was the opposite, it was like a chill Blake could feel through her bones. Weiss was shaking. Blake couldn't see the girls face from this angle but she knew it wasn't any better than the rest of them and Ruby…

Ruby looked tired, there wasn't really any other way to explain it; it looked like she wore a weight on her shoulders that could not be lifted. Well at least she-

"Some would even feast on these children while they were still alive."

Nope, that was it.

One of team CRDL rushed past their seats in an attempt to make it out the door -Sky -but for some reason he decided it was too far away and instead dashed to the window, and proceeded to empty his stomach.

Blake's thoughts had stalled as others yelled out for an explanation. Doctor Oobleck stood at the front of the class, waiting for the initial shouting to stop.

And when it did people were left sitting in mute horror.

When he spoke again his voice was clear; "I would like to remind everyone that while it is expected for all of you to be unsettled by this it is ill advised to express your negative emotions in such a manner, lest it attracts more Grimm than usual… are there… any questions so far?"

Weiss raised her shaky hand.

"Yes Miss Schnee, what is it?"

The snow haired girl gulped. "Why… why is this the first time I'm hearing this? I've… I know that the mistreatment of Faunus has been poor in the past but never like _this._ This is horrible. _"_

Blake blinked. Huh, it looks like she could even agree with a Schnee on this, was that even a shred of decency within her words? She would have never expected it from her family.

"The answer to that is as simple as it is callous Miss Schnee," Oobleck said, fixing his glasses. "The reason you have not heard of it, is because the information is suppressed and hidden from the civilian populace."

Hushed whispers travelled around the classroom. Pyrrha was the next to ask a question. "But sir, why would they hide this? Surely it's something we should all know the truth about."

The man looked among his audience. "Can one of you answer that question?"

There was silence all around, before a small voice from Blake's right spoke up weakly.

"It's for the same reason the council keeps secrets the rest of the time," Ruby sighed. "So that we don't attract the Grimm, if everybody knew it would just make people hate each other more and now with the White Fang becoming more of a problem for them they don't wanna give people any more of a reason to join up."

"That is correct Miss Rose," Oobleck said with a nod before turning to the rest of them. "This knowledge is highly controlled for the dangers it possess… however in order to give us _some_ semblance of freedom this information is taught to all Huntsmen and Huntresses, other than that only the highest members of the council know. _You_ are all being taught this because it is important for you in affecting your judgements."

In the back Cardin frowned, he'd been making sure Sky wasn't about to throw up again but he was defiantly more interested in this topic now, if perhaps a bit uncomfortable.

"What do you mean affect our judgment? How is this supposed to help?"

"It will help you Mr Winchester because the knowledge of the past will influence your choices in the future, tell me boy; what do you think is the duty of a Huntsman?"

He blinked, along with a few others in the class.

"Um… to kill Grimm?" he half-told-half-asked.

"True," the teacher allowed. "But that is not all there is to it; as a protector, as a Huntsman, you are expected to be the heroes of the people and as such are required to have a certain level of empathy… it is not realistic for all of you to be patience and kind saints but it is desired for you to at least realise what people may be going through, this includes our Faunus population."

The large boy nodded, but he didn't really look happy with what he'd heard. Although Blake could have been wrong, it's not like she cared enough about him to learn what his facial features might mean.

Oobleck took a sip of coffee from a mug that seemed to just appear on his hands. "Where were we? Ah! Yes, these acts happened centuries ago without anyone notable in power seeing what was wrong but it wasn't until one particular event did things begin to change, there was an attack on a village names Sanus, a relatively unimportant settlement, but when it was attacked the human population had no hope of surviving… until the Faunas inhabitants decided to aid them."

He didn't wait for them to gasp at the new information, powering on instead.

"After the battle humans grew to realize that the Faunus were not that different from them after all… However, rather than treating them equally, Humans used the Faunus' differences to exploit and continue to discriminate against them. It has never been as bad as before, but there was still slavery for a while after. From that we lead up to the great war, where afterwards the Faunus population was 'rewarded' the island known as Menagerie, however it was just a thinly disgusted attempt to relocate them away from humans. This did not succeed and the Faunus Rights Revolution was born with one of its main benefactors: the Schnee Dust Company."

 _What!_

Blake felt her jaw drop at the teachers' words. Had she just heard him right? The Schnee Dust Company had been their main support. This must have been a joke!

Almost on their own, Blake's eyes shifted to her Schnee-born teammate. Her form was straighter and she seemed to have a surprised look on her face… but one that was nevertheless proud.

Oobleck nodded even as the surprise rippled through them.

"Indeed Nicholas Schnee was a great Faunus synthesiser in his youth, and after leading many expeditions to find new types of dust alongside Faunus partners, he formed an understanding of them. When he amassed a great enough public figure and treasury he was _the_ first corporation to hire Faunus workers and give them an honest wage. This seems to have been… forgotten now, mainly because the Company has slipped back into discrimination when it comes to these workers, paying them what is rumoured to be less than minimum wage. However there has been no real evidence of this and anyone who has come forward quickly retracts their statements."

He tilted his head in thought. "Things are… tense in this day and age, with non-peaceful White Fang action on the rise there has been a rift forming between Humans and Faunus, one that drives more people to hate each other, more people to join the White Fang and perpetuate the problem."

The team leader of JNPR raised their hand again Blake turned to look at him when she noticed something; had he been taking notes?

"Um, sir? You said there used to be a fair treatment of Faunus in the, um, Schnee Dust Company so… what changed."

Doctor Oobleck opened his mouth to answer when the bell rang.

"That is something you will have to find in the library for now Mr Arc. Class is dismissed, for homework I want a ten thousand word essay on the progression of Faunus Treatment on my desk two weeks from now."

There was no groan at the homework, people were still too numb for that, instead many students shuffled out of the room, and in the moment Blake was swept up with her team and she was walking down the hallway with them.

"Well," Yang said. "That was defiantly somethin'"

Weiss sighed. "If you mean horrific then I would have to second it. I was not aware of such despicable events in history."

Blake turned to say something, but before she could a voice sounded on the speakers.

" _Team RWBY and JNPR to the Headmasters office for briefing. Repeat, team RWBY and JNPR to the Headmasters office."_

RWBY turned to her team. "That must be the mission they were talking about, come on, let's go!"

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **So.. yeah, the World of Remnant isn't all sunshine and rainbows. this is just the tip of how dark this could get. A taster to let you know what's coming in the future.**

 **Did you like this chapter? Yes? No?**

 **Be sure to let me know. also if you saw any mistakes please tell me, some tend to slip through so if I find them I'll be sure to fix them.**

 **That's** **all I have for now.**

 **Bye!**


	9. Unrest: Part 3

**Alright, back with a new chapter and I wanted to bring something to your attention before we begin readers:**

 **the fact that from now on I'll be trying out something with the chapter names. I'm sure you already know that the chapters are split into parts, but I wanted to make this more official and say that - yes - there will always be at least two parts each time. THis isn't just to separate the chapters into different parts for pacing sake but also to help you interact.**

 **I know that in my own personal time reading fics that sometimes you want to Review, maybe leave a message or ask a question ot maybe something complelty different, sometimes you feel like you can't becasue maybe you're catching up and it's not the most recent chapter you want to talk about.**

 **So I'm trying this.**

 **For example you could say 'Hey, I think that Unrest did really well at adressing _' or ' hey, can you tell me why in 'Trial By Fire they _'**

 **That way I'll know exactly what you're takling about and gives you more clarity on jsut whay you want to say.**

 **Anyway, I'm not sure it'll work, so let me know what you think.**

 **All the same, if you see any mistakes with spelling, grammar or anything else be sure to let me know.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Eight students stood to attention in front of their Headmaster, much like when their teams were first formed a few days ago.

Last time they had been recovering from initiation, slightly sore and a little nervous. This time, they had just stepped out of a less than pleasant class had they were all slightly muted. Though, perhaps that was to be expected.

Although by the looks of it Nora at least was back to normal, hopping excitedly from one foot to the other with a massive smile on her face. She was the only one.

Ozpin was sat behind his desk, sending a scrutinizing gaze their way. It could have been for intimidation, though Ruby knew that wasn't the case. He was studying them – her included – to see how they reacted to his presence.

She didn't know why though… she didn't know most of the reasons Ozpin did things.

The man took a sip from his mug.

"I'm sure you all, already know why you have been called to my office but for formalities sake I will reiterate it anyway." His eyes roamed up and down the group of eight students. "After the events of initiation which are no doubt still fresh in your memory, the staff at Beacon along with myself had decided it ideal to further your growth in a… less orthodox way. As such while the other teams are on a field trip to Forever Fall team RWBY and JNPR will be on a mission instead." He added with a smile. "Don't worry though; I'll make sure to let you have your fun when you return."

He reached for a folder from somewhere underneath his desk and opened it in front of them. There was a letter in it as well as what looked like a detailed profile of a town.

"We received a contract from one of the closer frontier settlements; there have been a string of deaths there with evidence pointing towards animal or Grimm as the cause. Normally we would send an older team to deal with these, or a huntsman could take it for an extra payment, since there would be two teams undergoing this mission however I have decided to offer it to you. I believe it would be the perfect first attempt."

He glanced at them again. "Any questions so far?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Pyrrha said. She stood a little straighter as she spoke and kept her arms behind her back. "This… settlement, how long has it been around? I mean, surely people would notice if a Grimm was intruding in their village."

Ozpin smiled. "You want to judge how well defended it is by measuring how long it stood? Very well; most of what you'll need is already in the file, what I'll tell you now however is that the villages name is Grainsal. It specialises in producing wheat and bread to export to other such towns. I'd say it's been around for forty or so years now. As for why it hasn't been noticed… well, that's what you will have to find out."

The redhead nodded thankfully and allowed Ozpin to address them all again.

"Now, it goes without saying that you will not be forced to do this if you do not feel you are ready… you can refuse if you wish."

When no response came the Headmaster nodded. "Very well. There will be a member of staff shadowing you but unless it is absolutely necessary they will not intervene. If all goes well you will not even know who they are. If that is all then I suggest heading for cliffs so that a Bullhead can deliver you."

With that, they were dismissed and when the office was empty Ozpin opened his scroll, dialling a number.

"Glynda, I will be absent for the day… yes… Meanwhile, I would like you to send a team to investigate any leads at the ruins… someone sent those Grimm in excess, it is about time we looked into it… yes, inform James I am on my way with Amber.

…

…

Weiss watched as her team leader hopped from one foot to the other excitedly. Well, this time she couldn't blame the girl for it. Even she felt a giddy sensation build in her chest at the thought of going on their first mission.

It was her first chance to prove herself fully! A way to hit the ground running as it were. Her sister would no doubt be pleased that she had been given a chance like this in the first place.

Which reminded Weiss, she would have to write Winter a letter when she got back to keep her up to date. The older Schnee had been eager to be in contact with her younger sister, since she barely got to come home, either due to her duties in Atlas or being outright barred because of their father.

It was… an unsteady relationship.

She shook her head, now was not the time for things like that.

"Weiss? Are you ok?"

The snow-haired girl blinked as she noticed her partner wave a hand in front of her face.

She scowled. "What is it?" she demanded coldly, making the shorter girl flinch slightly and shrink back.

"U-um, you were staring off into space… you didn't even notice the bullhead dock so I tried to get your attention… sorry."

Instantly Weiss felt a stab of guilt in her gut. Great, she had overreacted when Ruby had just been attempting to help. What was she doing? She'd promised Yang that she would give her sister a chance and yet here she was brazenly scorning the younger girl.

Ugh… interacting with other people was more difficult than she had anticipated. She needed to remind herself that she wasn't in Atlas. Sometimes people were nice to you just for the sake of it.

Weiss tried to school her features into something softer, she wasn't sure if she was successful but she went ahead with it anyway as she looked to her Leader.

"I'm sorry," she began. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, I… was just in though and was not expecting you to concern yourself with me. Again, I'm sorry."

It was like a switch was flipped in Ruby, as her sullen face suddenly became bright and she smiled widely. "Nope, I get it, it fine. Come on," she said as she grasped Weiss' hand. "We should probably get on already so we don't keep them waiting."

The Heiress could only stare at the back of her teammate's head of a moment before a tiny smile snuck its way onto her face… Honestly, this girl.

The others were already on the bullhead as Ruby had said. With the two teams sitting neatly across from each other in order, Ruby and Jaune both had seats at the opening respectively.

As Weiss fastened herself Nora spoke up enthusiastically. "So whatcha think we're going to be doing? Maybe we'll get to lure the Grimm out before we crush it!"

Yang laughed. "I like your style, but I think we have to let the town know that we're workin for them before we go off and hunt the thing, right?"

Weiss nodded "Indeed, settlements like this usually have some kind of local law enforcement, perhaps a sheriff of sorts. We will probably have to talk with the Mayor first; of course not all of us, one or two would go while the rest find accommodations."

Ren looked impressed at her breakdown. "You sound like you have a good idea of how this will happen."

She puffed out her chest proudly. "My older sister spoke often about the proper etiquette when on a mission. I made sure to listen to and catalogue the details."

As they were talking the flying vessel lurched. It looked like they'd reached the minimum height needed to fly over Vale safely.

Now that Weiss thought about it. Arc looked a bit… pale.

The rest didn't seem to notice and Ruby smiled at the others.

"So how have you guys been doing for the first week? I hope it's been at least a little crazy like ours."

Nora grinned. "Oh yeah it's been awesome! We got our new room so that was cool, and me and Pyrrha get to sleep next to each other, we're like sleeping buddies!" the excitable girl seemed to deliberately ignore her partner as he muttered about the correct grammar being Pyrrha and I. "And guess what! I found out Pyrrha's a super famous fighter!"

The redhead blushed in embarrassment and covered a tiny smile with one hand. "Well, it was certainly a surprise to find out that my teammates had never heard of me… turned out Nora and Ren never really watched the championships in Mistral, not to mention Jaune not recognizing me."

Weiss felt confused at how pleased the champion sounded at that. Surely she would be irritated that her achievements were unrecognized.

Yang made a noise that sounded something between a laugh and a grunt before turning to the other blond. "So how's the team leader gig going for you?"

"O-oh… um, yeah it's uh… it's doing great..." Jaune really didn't look to well. Was there something wrong with –

"Ah…well," Ren said as he glanced at his leader. "It's not all good. It seems Cardin has a problem of sorts with Jaune. He's been very hostile towards him since the first day."

Weiss frowned. Was he referring to bullying? To think such a thing would go on at a Huntsman Academy, especially when they were becoming adults… well… Ruby didn't really count.

Blake finally decided to be a part of the conversation as she made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Winchester's just the type of person who picks of people he thinks are weaker than him, he's got some kind of complex to be sure, on top of clearly racist tendencies from the way he treated that rabbit Faunus.

Rabbit Faunus? As in Velvet Scarlatina? Weiss had noticed, had she not been paying attention or had the brute been discreet? No, Pyrrha was nodding along too so it was probably a public ordeal. How had the Heiress missed that?

Nora shrugged. "I said that if he caused any more problems for Jauney we can break his legs." She pouted. "Ren said no."

The boy rolled his eyes. "As much as he might deserve to be taught a lesson you can't do something like that Nora, it's still a school, despite the fact that it involves its fair share of combat."

The ginger blew a raspberry at her friend but eventually gave in. " _fine,"_ she groused. "But if he does it again I'll be _teachin'_ him a lesson."

Ok, no seriously, was nobody else seeing how green Arc looked? Weiss was staring at him now because if she didn't know better she would have thought he was a chameleon Faunus. That was it, she had to speak up.

"Jaune, is there something wrong?"

"Eh?" Yang said as she glanced in their direction before her face morphed into horror. "Aw crap! Crap, crap, crap Ruby open a window or something quick!"

Her sister seemed to recognize her panic because her answer was shot back just as quickly. "There are no windows! Only compartments for people to shoot from."

"Then open one of them!"

Ruby did what she was told; wanking down a sheet of metal on the wall beside her to the outside, when Yang leapt from her seat, yanking Jaune upwards as he finally lost control.

Weiss had to admit that she wasn't that good when it came to… ugh, the sound was awful. What was she thinking again? She couldn't hear it over the sound of Arc emptying his guts.

What was worse was the image of Ruby and Yang standing at either side him and high-fiving.

"Quick thinking Yang!" Ruby giggled.

The older girl grinned. "Not too bad yourself sis, nice reflexes by the way."

Weiss struck her face with her palm as she listened to them congratulate each other. "Would you two stop that? Honestly, you would think a huntsman in training would learn to get over motion sickness."

Pyrrha gazed at her partner sympathetically. "Ah… well, I suppose we all have our weaknesses."

She scowled. "Don't encourage this Pyrrha!"

"Well what am I supposed to do?" the Mistrialian asked as she raised her hands. "it's not exactly something I can prevent."

Weiss would have agreed, but right now the sound of Arc was making her a bit queasy, and that made her irrationally.

"Figure something out!"

Ruby laughed lightly at that, and Weiss crossed her arms, looking away and sinking into her seat. Fine, she would just have to endure it for a while _. .fine!_

Nora had other ideas.

"Aim for the people below Jauney!"

She hoped the trip as over fast, Weiss wasn't sure she could deal with someone like Nora for a long time.

Thankfully the ride was mercifully short – bullheads were excellent at travelling short distances quickly, Weiss knew they had something similar on atlas… but they were bigger and therefore slower – and so when they stepped off the vessel Weiss was able to marvel at the settlement in front of them:

They'd been dropped off right at its outskirts on an overlooking hill, so from where they stood they had a good view of the place; it was a rather average place size-wise, with about two, maybe three hundred buildings, the streets were wide and filled with people. Although from what she could see its most notable feature was its namesake: all along the settlement were fields upon fields of golden wheat as well as quaint little windmills at the corners.

The trees waved back and forth gently in the breeze, their green leaves a lovely contrast with golden earth and blue skies.

Yes, Weiss thought. It was nice to look at.

And then Arc fell off the bullhead, and ruined the moment with his wretching. Ren kneeled beside him, patting his back comfortably.

Well… it was nice while it lasted.

Yang stepped up beside her, surveying the people down below. "So," she chirped. "Where should we start? The Mayor's office like you said?"

She nodded. "Yes, I will volunteer myself to go. If someone can accompany me then the rest of you should be able to find us accommodations."

No one volunteered.

Weiss flushed, did they really not want to go off alone with her? Or was it something she said?

One of them made a noise and she immediately hones in on it.

"Alright," she said. "You and I will go."

"Really?" Jaune asked weakly.

Oh… maybe she'd been a bit hasty. no, it was fine, she could just pick someone –

"Welp you two have fun!" Nora cheered, already dragging her other two teammates along.

Weiss looked to her own team for help, a desperate look on her face. Wait, Ruby was already gone, a trail of rose petals as the only evidence she had been there in the first place. Not to mention Yang, was smiling and waving even as she walked backwards. The Schnee gave a final attempt at survival as she looked at the quiet Blake who stared back intensely…

And promptly left with the rest of the group.

Traitors, all of them.

She sighed in resignation as the blond male rose to his feet. At least he wasn;t throwing up anymore, that was a small victory at least. She sighed again.

"Alright Arc, let's go."

He nodded and followed as she set the pace forward into the streets. "R-right, you uh… know where we're going right?"

"Yes, for most towns outside main cities the biggest building is used as a town hall of sorts. We will head there and confirm the contract."

He hummed in acknowledgement. "SO, what do we know about the mission so far? I mean, did the file say anything important?"

Weiss put a hand to her chin. They had entered the busy street now, residents passing by them, so she made sure to keep her voice low. "From what I could gather, Grainsal had been around for a considerable amount of time compared to others of its kind. Its funding is mostly from outside sources; other towns and villages along with Vale that purchase its massive yield of wheat and grain. With the lien the people earn from that they have been able to employ largely successful defences such as outer wall, watchtowers and a local militia acting as a sort of reserve force for their police. Perhaps you could look at that as a downside, for us at least; they've had no need for Huntsmen the majority of their time here, and now that there have been Grimm attacks we have been called… you can imagine how they view us."

Jaune gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? Surely they'd be happy that we've come to help right?"

She shot him her own look of confusion. "You… don't know?"

The blond flushed. "Ah… well it's just that my home village was made up of a lot of retired Huntsman… it was kinda normal for them to settle down and well, it made me want to be one. I haven't really heard anything bad about Huntsmen in general. I mean they protect people from Grimm, what's not to like?"

Weiss was silent for a moment, her eyes scanning the marketplace they'd entered, being sure to ignore the looks they got from people. "I suppose when you look at it like that it almost sounds romantic, but the truth is that public opinions are… Unsteady. It's hard to place just what it is people dislike, it's different for everyone after all but as much as they have become a part of people's lives Huntsmen are still relatively new in the grand scheme of things;" she glanced a Jaune to see if he was paying attention, he was watching her, listening even as he kept one eye on the surrounding people. He wasn't an idiot at least, of this Weiss was sure. She continued when he nodded.

"The schools were founded after the Great War, about eighty years ago and with that a new breed of fighters… but, Huntsmen and Huntresses are mostly separate from their countries, they go off on their own and… well just think; a super soldier with no true commander or leader to watch over their activities. The fact is that our profession however valued is less than a century old, and that uncertainty leaves most people who've never needed us before suspicious. It's a sad truth."

She paused when she noticed the way the taller boy was looking at her wide-eyed and she felt her cheeks heat up under his inspection.

"W-what? You don't need to stare at me like that."

It was his turn to go red. "U-um, no it's not that, just ah… you sound like you know a lot about this stuff. And here I am clueless."

The white hair girl relaxed. "You are not at fault, my family had me tutored in these aspects, even as a business woman information like that would have been very useful."

There was a pause.

"Weiss… uh, thanks. You know… for, um, bothering to tell me all this."

She flicked her ponytail back proudly. "Well, if there is an opportunity to teach then I don't see why not. Besides," she said with a smile. "You seemed eager to learn, a wonder when the first time we met the only thing you were interested in was flirting with me."

He flinched at that even as he blushed harder.

"Sorry," he said. "I was stupid. I didn't have much experience in the whole 'making friend' department back home. Everyone just sorta knew each other already and my dad always said that all I needed was confidence."

Weiss' smile was softer. "Perhaps a bit too much confidence in this case."

He caught her teasing tone and laughed.

"Yeah, maybe."

A few minutes later they entered the town hall, but upon entering were met by two men:

They were not short; however both still had to look up slightly to peer into Jaune's eyes. They wore plain clothing, it wasn't armoured, most likely they didn't need it all too much living in a relatively peaceful village. The men also had short swords at their right side and a pistol on their left.

The two students could tell the men were wary of them.

"You're the Huntsmen?" the first one asked gruffly. "You don't look like much."

Weiss bristled but controlled her voice as she answered. "We are two of them, yes. I believe we have a meeting scheduled with your mayor."

The men shared a look before shrugging, leading them down the hallway to a thick wooden door. Before either student could make a move to enter the guards glared. "Try anything in there and there'll be trouble, got it?"

Weiss gave the men an icy look even as Jaune nodded. These idiots thought they could threaten her? Ridiculous, not to mention insulting. It was an attack on her pride for them to even consider that they were in the same league as a Huntress, and no Huntsman would ever be cowed by something like this.

Despite her internal thoughts Weiss stayed silent as the door was opened.

The man behind the desk wasn't what she had expected: he was young, maybe five or six years older than her, with a professional but easy air around him. He had dark hair, eyes and wore a suit to match.

When he saw them he rose to his feet, smiled and extended his hand. "Ah! Hello, you must be the ones Beacon sent, correct?"

Weiss offered her own. "Yes, we have just arrived and there are others that arrived with us but right now we would appreciate it if you could explain to us full what it is that's happened."

"Ah yes, of course, please take a seat."

They did, both students taking seats across from the mayor.

"As you… probably know already Grainsal had been subject to a string of murders over the past four weeks. No one has seen the perpetrators but the sheriff believes that it's a Grimm. We were unable to catch it however, so asked Huntsman for help and… well, here you are."

They nodded.

The man scratched the back of his head. "I will be honest with you, I haven't had this position for long; it was my fathers up until three years ago and when I inherited eyes were suddenly on me, I will admit that I have selfish reasons for wanting you to succeed, so you will have my full support should you need it."

Weiss paused. "Actually," she said. "I think there is something you can do for us."

Fantastically, the event was a rather quick transition of information with Weiss using her knowledge to navigate a situation that could only be described as politics.

A few minutes later Jaune and Weiss stepped out of the town hall, walking down the streets. They'd been sent the location of the rest of their teammates, so they were heading there.

"Hey," Jaune said. "What's with that face?"

The Schnee blinked. "Oh? My apologies, I was in thought, the mayor is clever I will give him that, he put us in a corner."

Jaune blinked in return. "What are you talking about? He sounded nice enough to me."

She shook her head. "No, I suppose I only recognised it because I've been taught to spot such things but he was moving us to a spot where if we fail he won't take the fall: by offering us resources like this he ensures that in the eyes of the townspeople he did everything he could to help, and it will put more strain on us to get results faster with such pressure on our backs. If anything, it probably would have been easier if he was hostile."

The blond sighed. "Life as a Huntsman sounds a lot different from what I expected."

Weiss could only agree.

"I suppose you're right."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Come again?"

"I said we should split the teams up into two groups." Ruby repeated to Weiss. They had met back up with the group a few minutes ago and now sat around one of the tables in an inn, their rooms had already been rented out so they would only be killing time by staying here.

Ruby continued. "You said the Mayor gave you permission to visit the morgue to inspect the bodies right? I think we should go, but I don't think there's much point in _all_ of us going."

Weiss sighed. "Very well," she relented. "what teams would you suggest then?"

The younger girl nodded to her. "You, Ren, Blake and I can go to the morgue, while Jaune, Nora, Yang and Pyrrha can ask around. I'm pretty sure they'd do better with people than us anyway because… well, there's me to begin with, and I don't think Blake or Ren are cut out for the type of information gathering Yang has in mind."

Yang could be heard holding back a snort of laughter even as the two quietest members of their group shrugged.

"It works fine for me," the dark-haired girl said, while Ren nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright, I see your point with them," Weiss allowed. "But what about you? We would have to inspect the bodies closely, would you be able to stomach that?"

Ruby smiled softly. "I'll be fine Weiss, don't worry about me."

She hesitated. "R-right, anyway, what about the rest of you? Xiao-Long? I already know you have something planned."

The Blonde grinned widely. "Ah y'know, I was thinking of asking some of the boys around here if they've seen anything suspicious, see if I can't squeeze some info out of em'" The way she suggested it had Ren and Jaune suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable, thankfully Pyrrha came to the rescue.

"We will also be asking if about recent attacks in the area, see if you can't find the source of the killing, or see where exactly in town they're occurring. There might be a pattern to them that we can't see just yet."

Weiss nodded, it sounded like a solid plan.

"Well then, should we go?"

"Yeah, yeah," Yang groused "Just let me finish my drink."

What felt like hours later due to blonde huntresses complaining but was only a few minutes in reality they arrived at the morgue.

Ruby knocked the front door and the sound of scuffling was heard through it as someone approached.

"Coming, coming."

When it opened, Ruby, Weiss Ren and Blake came face to face with a tiny, balding, old man. He blinked at them owlishly. "Oh right, you must be the Huntsmen the Mayor massaged me about. Alright, come in already."

"Thank you," Ruby said as she entered. Weiss stepped in behind her team leader and looked around.

It was a relatively small building; focused more on length than height. It was dimly lit but clean at least. Spotless even, while not exactly the nicest of jobs it seemed that the old man took some semblance of pride in it.

"The bodies are in there," he said, pointing to a door to the right. "I'd ask for you to be quick, they've been out long enough already. I'd say it's about time for them to be buried before they start to rot."

… What Weiss had been expecting was a corpse with a few gashes on it. Maybe a bite or slash or some other injury that caused the victims to bleed out.

What she saw was much, much worse.

The first body was laid out on the table with a sheet over its lower half. The human had been male… that was the only recognizable thing Weiss could see.

"Oh God!" she croaked, even as she felt the bile build up in the back of her throat.

The body of the man had been brutalised: his torso marred with slashed and cuts that dug all the way to the bone, some dragging down the length of his body while others went in between the ribs. His arm and leg weren't much better.

Yes, arm and leg as in the singular.

His right arm and left leg had been torn off, nothing left from them but stumps that had long since dried. The limbs he had left though were crosshatched with cuts and busies that had severed several arteries.

And his face… it…

Weiss suppressed a shudder as she forced herself to look at it.

His features were indistinguishable, mauled, bloodied and beaten to the point of no return. His hair had been torn out in clumps, his jaw was missing, he had teeth ripped out from the top, half is nose was gone and both eyes had been plucked out.

Weiss couldn't speak, as they stood around the table she couldn't even utter a croak… but she couldn't look away either. It was like her mind was so fascinated by what she saw in front of her that it had glued her eyes to the scene.

She felt sick, her hands were clammy and her hair felt like it was clinging to her head.

She must have looked pale because suddenly Ruby was next to her.

"Are you alright Weiss? If it's too much you can step outside, you don't need to see it."

The snow-haired teen stared at her red leader. How could she not be paralyzed with the same feeling as her? Did it not faze her?

No, Weiss could see the discomfort in Ruby's eyes, she wanted to be anywhere else but here. She just had a better handle on it than herself, and as Weiss' eyes moved she could see that Ren and Blake were the same. They were disgusted, horrified… but they… they were used to it.

They were used to it!

Weiss' eyes whipped back to Ruby.

She was the same as them in this situation! Just what had this girl seen?

"I-" Weiss forced out. "I need to be here too. I'll… I'll be fine, just give me a moment."

After a moment's hesitation Ruby nodded. "Alright, if you're sure."

She was, and a few moments later she got her breathing under control, something she hadn't even realized had changed so erratically.

As she stepped back to the table the other three students examined the body.

"So," Weiss started. "Do you see anything that might tell us just what Grimm did this?"

Blake was the first to shake her head. "I don't know, this isn't like any Grimm I've seen. It so… violent. I know the Grimm are monsters but this is just…" she trailed off, but Ren shook his head.

"No," he said, reaching over his hands glided over the corpse's wounds. His fingers skimming across the exposed bone. "These aren't injuries from a Grimm, there's too many of them, and even though they can be this deep there's too many of them, spread out over too much."

Weiss froze. He couldn't be saying what she thought he was saying, could he? No, Ren must be wrong, maybe he made a mistake.

Ruby crushed those hopes when she nodded.

"I think so too," her voice was painfully wretched, even as she ran a finger over one of the cuts. "This wasn't made by a Grimm's claws or teeth… it a blades doing, a sword, maybe an axe or saw."

"But," Blake whispered. "What kind of monster would do something like this?"

The red hood hesitated. "This isn't just weapon damage… Some of it looks like it's been done by animal claws… That's why the townspeople thought it was Grimm, but it was done on purpose, with intent to maul the body even after they're dead." She stopped again, her eyes shifting between them. "This wasn't done by Grimm or wild animals… and humans don't have claws… and… regular people don't have access to weapons that can do this to a person."

She stopped there, not sure what else she could say.

The dots connected for Wiess even as Blakes' face took on a look of horror.

The Schnee's lips curled back into a snarl.

"The White Fang." She growled. "They're here? I should have known they'd d something this evil."

"N-no!" Blake gasped. "That's- you're wrong, there must be something we're missing."

Weiss snapped to the usually quiet girl, with her snarl still in place. "What else would it be?" she growled viciously. "It's obvious now that I know what to look for."

Blake still shook her head frantically. "The White Fang wouldn't do this, they aren't monster they- this can't be them. They're misguided I know but this is-"

" _Misguided!"_ Weiss shrieked. "This isn't misguided. This is the work of insane terrorists. I know it is, I've seen what they've done in the past! They're worse than monsters, no, they're not just worse than them. Their demons in peoples skin!"

Blake recoiled as if physically struck and in her rage, Weiss couldn't force herself to care why."

"I…I… I don't-"

Weiss was about to interrupt her with something just as livid as before, but Ruby stepped between them.

"Listen, both of you just need to calm down. We're all on the same side. Look, there's still more bodies to look at. Listen Weiss; it's just an educated guess, we can't jump to conclusions without looking at the rest first. And Blake, even if it is just a guess, we still need to mention the chance that _it could_ be the White Fang."

She sighed, suddenly sounding tired.

"Lets just… look over the rest. Ren, can you come with me?"

"Alright."

Weiss suppressed another growl when she realized Ruby had essentially left them to work together.

Fine, she'd cooperate, but she would be ready for the White Fang. She knew it was them and even if Blake somehow had a problem with it –

She would bring them to justice.

* * *

…

…

* * *

 **So what do you think? Unrest has been mostly Weiss focused with a little bit of Blake on the side with a bit of Yang and Ruby sprinkled in. Do you like it? do you hate it? Let me know. I feel like I need to really start developing Wiess and Blake as characters so that they can fit in this story and make sense. Do you think I'm doing that correctly?**

 **Whatever you think, be sure to Review, and Follow if you want to keep up to date on this story.**

 **That's all I've got to say right now, if you have any questions be sure to ask, I'll try to answer any of them within my ability to not spoil you on anything.**

 **Welp...**

 **Bye!**


	10. Unrest: Part 4

**So I just finished watching VOL 5's second chapter. Being a first member gives me a sort of advantage when it comes to characters to write about. I got to see some new ones to add in so that's good.**

 **Anyway, I took what I knew about aura this chapter but I'm not an expert. Then again this is an AU so if it doesn't line up with what you know you can always ask me and I'll confirm whether it was intentional or not.**

 **Also, this is the tenth chapter, which I think is pretty good and I can work a bit faster now that I have the story planned out for the first four volumes. What volume 5 gives us we'll see.**

 **"I hope you enjoy**

* * *

"So… you haven't seen anything strange?" Yang asked the stall owner, her hand holding up her chin as she smiled lazily.

The man shook his head. He was about middle-aged, and judging from the fruit and vegetables, as well as the worn apron it was obvious that he was a regular in the square.

"No, sorry. It's usually very busy, this town's mostly a stopping point for people travelling so most of the time we have people staying for a few nights and then passing on. I don't really pay attention to who it is I serve so long as they pay. Besides it's not like I'll find many shady characters buying fruit."

She sighed, yeah that made sense. This was the third person she'd asked and she'd gotten the same answer each time; they hadn't seen anyone suspicious or didn't have a clue what to look for to begin with.

Yang put on a smile for the man.

"I guess that makes sense, sorry for bothering you sir."

This was so unfair! Why was she here again? With Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora instead of her own team? Did they not want her help or something? Not that the three members of JNPR weren't alright –even if she was still a little tense with Nora after her little interruptions when she'd tried to speak to he little sister on the first day – but they weren't part of her team, and it left her feeling a little bit isolated.

Ugh! She could think about it later, the sooner she got this over with the sooner she could go.

She turned then, scanning over the other stalls. That had been her third attempt and still nothing to show for it… maybe the others were having more luck.

But by the looks of it that wasn't true. Pyrrha was busy asking a group of five about anything strange they had seen.

That was probably the fourth group of people she'd asked if Yang had been paying attention properly. The problem with that was that most seemed a bit… enamoured by her to give her a straight answer, not to mention the looks she was drawing from people all around.

These ones though were far less friendly though; like they didn't want to be near here. Well, not everyone could be a fan of the same celebrity.

Either way the redhead looked very uncomfortable with it all.

Whelp, she might as well give her a little bit of help.

With a smile she waved to Pyrrha and made her way over.

"Hey Pyr'," she said, making sure not to call out too loudly and attract even more attention. "Have you found anything yet?"

The champion flushed. "A-ah! Not yet Yang, I'm sorry."

She shrugged and turned to the people she had been questioning.

"So boys and girls, see anything strange around here recently?" she made sure to keep her tone casual and non-threatening. No point in making them mad and having them leave

One of the men – young, about in his twenties really – turned to look at her, he at least seemed to have his head in the game by how he'd stopped glaring at the tournament champion and listened to her.

He had brown hair and brown eyes, not really much to look at. Normally Yang wouldn't have paid a guy like him much attention if not purely for the fact that he didn't stand out at all nut there was a look in his eye that caught her interest.

"Not really," he said dismissively. "You're huntresses right? You're looking into the murder case then?"

She crossed her arms. "Maybe," she allowed. "But that's not the kind of info we just give out to civilians, so if you wanna know more you're going to have to give us somethin' to work with."

The civilian rolled his eyes and turned to his companions whatever silent message he gave them must have been enough because they nodded and left.

"Fine, I might have a little bit to say, but not here." He motioned with his head towards an ally out of sight.

Yang glanced at the redhead and nodded, they followed the man down the ally. It was dark and dank; the type of uncleanliness that had even her shivering. There were just some thing's you didn't want to touch. There was also the fact that the sound from the markets was muted here: they'd taken two corners, a right then left so that no one could glance in and see them unless they were looking for trouble.

The blonde gave Pyrrha another look and this time the girl nodded, a stern look on her face.

The man stopped in the middle of the path but he wasn't facing them.

"So," Yang said. "What is it you wanted to tell us?"

The seconds ticked by, and he fidgeted.

It happened so fast:

He pulled a revolver from some hidden pocket of his and spun to face them. Yang recognised that look in his eyes now; it was a look of pure hatred. He made to fire.

But they two huntresses were faster.

Yang dashed forward ready to fight and even prepared to take the bullet. She needn't have worried as when the projectile flew at her Pyrrha's shield was there to block it. how the champion had managed to take it out in time she didn't know but that wasn't important right now.

Their attacker cursed and aimed to fire again, but Yang had closed the distance now, and sank her fist into his gut. He coughed, spit flying from his mouth from the hit but the blond didn't let him fold over her punch. Instead she grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground.

The exchange was brutally fast and the echo of the gunshot had just finished reverberating along the alley walls.

Yang's eyes were boring into his.

"That was a cheap trick you know?" she growled angrily. She wasn't exactly a fan of being shot at. "What? You thought you could take on the two of us at once?"

"Shut up you filthy human!" he choked out with as much venom as possible and Yang blinked in surprise when his fingers suddenly had claws on their tips. He tried to pierce the skin but was met instead with her aura.

"You're a Faunus? Was this some sort of hate crime… no, don't tell me…"

She shook her head and turned to Pyrrha. "What do you think we should do with him?"

Before the other girl could answer, the Faunus chuckled cruelly.

"If you think you'll get anything from me human then you're stupider than I thought. I'll make you regret this."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Right," she drawled. "Because you're in such a great position to threaten us. Great plan by the way, you know? Leading us into an ally and shooting at us. It's not like we aren't fully armed or anything."

"Um, Yang?"

"I mean what did you think you were going to do with that tiny gun anyway?"

"Y-yang."

"You though a few bullets would be enough?"

"No," he growled. "But these will be."

 _Click._

The blonde stopped at the sound and looked towards it.

"Oh." She said.

Because at the other side of the ally stood the people from before, the ones he'd been talking to. Now, they wore white masks and pointed guns straight at them.

Yang swore under her breath even as Pyrrha readied her weapon. This was bad: she counted four of them. Two with handguns and two with what looked like automatics, if not semi-automatics. That was a problem.

Her aura could take about thirty dust rounds to the chest… maybe a quarter of that to her head if she was lucky. Yang knew she could beat them f she could cross the distance between them fast enough but in this alley and Pyrrha behind her she couldn't get off a shot of Ember Celica to give her the boost she'd need.

What should she do?

Yang grit her teeth as her mind raced for an answer. They weren't firing yet, but the stalemate wouldn't last for another minute. Could she use the man in her hands as a hostage? A human shield maybe?

No, that was a bad idea. Yang could tell by the masks that these guys were White Fang, as she'd managed to piece together just minutes earlier. The problem was that if these guys were anything like the news made them out to be, then they weren't afraid to fill all three of them with holes.

The Faunus aimed their weapons. They huntresses tensed.

And then both froze at a peculiar sound.

A… bird?

Before any of them could move there was a crash, and the Fang members could only cry out in shock as a massive hammer slammed into their group, rocketing them against the wall. Without aura to protect them their bodies cracked against the wall.

Yang and Pyrrha stared as Nora and Jaune came round the corner; Nora with her hammer hoisted on her shoulders and Jaune looking at her with bemusement.

" _That's_ what you think a sloth sounds like?"

The ginger-haired girl giggled. "Of course they do Jauney-boy! Have you ever heard a sloth before?"

"…Point."

Nora noticed the two huntresses looking at her and waved happily.

"Hiya guys!" she called. "Sorry we're kinda late; I didn't notice you were gone until Jauney came to get me. How lucky was that, am I right?

Yang was about to say something when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Yeah? What is it Pyrrha."

The redhead had a complicated look on her face. "Well, you've still got…" she trailed off, instead pointing past the blonde, who blinked in surprise.

She'd forgotten that she was still holding the punk from before, who this time wasn't looking so righteous.

Yang dropped him to the ground with a thump as the members of Team JNPR blocked off his escape. The four of them looked down at him, Yang smiling with her teeth bared.

"Now then," she said. "Why don't we have a little talk?"

The Faunus gulped.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby sighed to herself.

The last few hours had been some of the most awkward in her life.

And she was _Ruby Rose!_ She was practically the definition of awkward; it was bad enough that their job had essentially been looking at dead bodies for damages that killed them but the whole time there had been a tension building up between Weiss and Blake as they worked, with one shooting the other looks when they didn't think anyone was looking, and Ruby being team leader felt like she was caught in the middle of it and anything she said would be seen as choosing a side.

The only saving grace had been Ren.

Good ole Ren had worked beside her with a calm efficiency that said he knew what he was doing. Better yet, even though he hadn't said a word his presence was like a shield Ruby could use to block all the negativity from the other two girls. Honestly, it was a wonder Grimm hadn't appeared out of thin air to eat them.

They had gotten what they had been looking for though, and a little bit extra that could help. Yang had messaged her scroll a few minutes ago saying they had a lead and to meet back at the inn as soon as possible, so that was where they were going.

The journey back wasn't much better. It was like both of them had made it their personal mission to argue on just what Yang wanted to see them for:

Weiss insisted that she had a lead on the White Fang, while Blake firing back accusations on the SDC that had the snow-haired girl fuming.

Why was it so hard being the leader of this team?

Why had the Headmaster made _her_ the leader in the first place? He knew she wasn't any good stuff like this; she didn't have the social skills to be the charismatic leader people needed in battle.

She was just the fumbling, awkward Ruby Rose.

Oh look, they'd started again.

"I don't understand why you disagree with me!" Weiss exclaimed. "The White Fang has been deemed a terrorist organisation by the every Council in the world has said so."

Blake scoffed. "Leave it to a Schnee to only see one side of things. Funny how you bring up how the White Fang is on the wrong side of the law, but forget the part about your Faunus labour practices."

"I'm not sure what it is you're suggesting."

"Then how about I say it in a way you'll understand?" Blake mocked. "You; an arrogant Schnee wouldn't know the first thing Faunus have to go through every day. Sitting up in your ivory tower and looking down on everyone."

"W-why you… I don't look down on people! Look, I understand if you are some kind of Faunus rights activist, that is a noble cause to be sure but terrorists are still terrorists no matter their goals."

"Ugh! You don't even realise how wrong that sounds do you? It shouldn't be _noble_ to stand up for Faunus rights it should be a requirement of every person!"

Oh Gods, this wasn't going to stop was it?

Ruby needed an out, something to save her from this torture!

Then, like a godsend she arrived. Yang's blonde hair shone in the sunlight, making her look almost like a beacon of light to the poor Ruby.

Her older sister turned in their direction and when she saw them her lilac eyes lit up. She grinned and waved but wasn't expecting the little reaper to leap into her arms.

"Yang!"

The brawler stumbled back in surprise as Ruby's body was upon her.

"W-whoa there sis," she cried. "I didn't think you'd miss me that much." Her voice was teasing but there was no hiding the how Yang preened with her sister hugging her. She blinked however when Ruby clutched her collar desperately and looked her straight in the eye.

" _Help me!"_ Ruby whispered. When Yang saw exactly what she was talking about however – being their two teammates still bickering and Ren, who was slowly inching away from them – she belted out a laugh.

Ruby shook her. "Please!" she begged. "They've been like this for the last hour."

Her sister grinned and nodded. "You got it boss."

Then brazenly Yang moved. Before either Weiss or Blake noticed her she appeared between them with a shit-eating grin on her face. She wrapped an arm around each of their necks in a seemingly friendly gesture of camaraderie before pulling them into her bosom.

"W-what do you think you're doing Xiao-Long?" Weiss cried and Blake hissed at the close proximity.

"Just greeting my teammate's snowflake," Yang cheered. "Good to see that you made it back in one piece."

"We didn't do anything dangerous!"

Ruby sighed in relief and made a note to thank her sister for taking the heat some time. The reaper felt a hand on her shoulder and smiled up at the other blond in their group.

"Hey Jaune."

He shot her a smile, but he was distracted. Jaune's hand hadn't left her shoulder as his eyes scanned the area around them. It was full of people giving them a wide berth, Ruby could see Pyrrha and Nora too, who were doing the same thing.

They were on guard. Just what had they been up to?

"Come on," Jaune said. "We can talk when we get back to our room."

* * *

…

…

* * *

The 'room' as a wide hall of sorts with eight beds in it. Four lined up on each side and a window at the end…

It was also the attic.

It wasn't the most luxurious of places but it was the only place the inn could spare for eight people at once. At least they wouldn't be staying here for long. Weiss wasn't too pleased that they had to share a room with the only two boys of the group, even if said two boys already shared a space with their two very female teammates.

For now it would do at least. After a few minutes Weiss and Blake had calmed down, or at least pretended to under the watchful eye of Yang, who'd taken to being an enforcer of Ruby's will in terms of getting them to be quiet for the moment.

Team RWBY sat on their beds on one side of the room while Team JNPR sat on the other.

"Alright," Jaune said. "So far we've been pretty lucky, at least on our end. We got some info that we think is reliable at least."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Well then spit it out Arc. There's no need to keep us in suspense."

He nodded. "Right, Pyrrha, do you want to start?"

"Very well," the champion agreed. "When we separated Jaune decided that the best place to gather information would be where people visited the most frequently. So we went to the market square to question people."

"A good idea." Weiss conceded.

Pyrrha nodded. "It was. Anyway, at first were unsuccessful if gathering information on anything suspicious, but that in itself was helpful. The people of this town haven't noticed anything suspicious these last few weeks. There are so many people passing through that it would be impossible to notice anyone by themselves. We could guess at least that there are a fair number of people involved. Of course at first that was all it was; a guess."

"So we kept looking," Nora interjected. "And I found out from this mean old lady that there had been a lot of Faunus passing through." The excitable girl hunched over and scrunched up her face, imitating what was maybe an old person if you stretched the rules in a game of charades."

" She said: all these animals passin' through is really getting on my nerves. The filthy creature had been breeding too much more my liking. At least they're only infesting one part of town."

Jaune coughed into his fist. "Afterwards Nora thanked her for the help before casually emptying a bucket of water on her head… that she found somehow."

Almost imperceivably Blake sent a nod of thanks Nora's way. The ginger-haired girl caught it and smiled proudly, even as Ren muttered something about 'getting into trouble'.

Nora ignored her partner's words and pressed on. "That was when Jauney noticed that Pyrrha and Yang had followed some guy down a dark and terrible street."

"We were told he could tell us something important so long as it was in private." Yang corrected.

"So we followed them secretly as stealthily as we could and saw these bad guys aiming guns at them."

"And then WHAM!" Nora exclaimed, aided by slamming a fist into the palm of her hand. "Me and Jaune came swooping in to rescue the ladies. There were explosions, bloodshed and yes, a few tears of regret."

"Nora hit them with the hammer." Jaune said flatly.

"That's what I said." Nora agreed.

"Soooo yeah~," Yang laughed. "After that we did a little bit of interrogation. Turns out the White Fang are holed up in an old Grain Storage warehouse on the outskirts of the town. Apparently they have a whole operation going on here. That's pretty much all we know though so hopefully you have something too."

Weiss had to admit, she was impressed. She didn't dislike Yang, but she hadn't thought she would be capable of this kind of thing. She'd just assumed that Yang was someone who let her fists do the talking and never think things through.

"Well," she said. "It seems you have done a good job. Out own mission was… eye-opening"

"How so?" Pyrrha asked.

Weiss took a moment to think. She'd memorised everything she'd needed to know. And now.

"We arrived at the morgue to be greeted by the caretaker. Once we had explained what we were there to do he showed us the first body. It was… gruesome." She shivered, but she seemed to be the only one, that put her off more than it should have. "A-anyway, we managed to discern that it was the doing of a Faunus and therefore the White Fang."

Yang and the others nodded, urging her to continue.

"We then split off into two's and inspected the other bodies that were linked to the murders. They were just as if not more dismembered than the first. It was awful, but what we did find was that it seems the White Fang here have a number of weapons; Swords, axes and argument of dust projectile wounds littered the corpses. You said they were held up in a warehouse? Well, it sounds like they are well armed and willing to use them."

There was silence.

The full story suddenly painting a picture for them.

Innocent people were being murdered by the White Fang, who was still right under their noses. These poor people, being slaughtered in their home.

Blake was frozen in place.

"What do we do?" Jaune asked them. "Should we tell the major? The militia?"

"That would be a disaster." Ren sighed. "If the people of Grainsal tried to fight they're slaughtered in the fight, or they win and are attacked again in retaliation."

Pyrrha's brow creased in worry. "Then… what can we do?"

"We fight."

The Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training looked to Ruby, who was standing straight, with a determined look.

And in that moment, they saw silver steel in her eyes.

"We go to the Warehouse. We fight them, drive them out or whatever we can. We do it by ourselves. We make sure they know it was us, that it was Huntsmen who took them down. That way the people here will be safe."

They nodded in agreement.

"So… when do we go?" Jaune asked.

"Now."

"Ah yeah!" Yang cheered, and they moved. Ruby was in front as they filed out of the room, Yang Ren already discussing with her just where they were going.

Weiss made to follow but saw that Blake still hadn't moved. She rolled her eyes.

"Are you coming Belladonna?"

She expected a snarky response, but what she got was Blake looking up at her with a face that wracked with struggle.

"You were right," she croaked. "Weiss I-"

"Can apologise later." The Heiress interrupted. "Right now we need to go. Now come on! I won't be left behind!"

Blake looked down at her hands, rested in her lap.

She clenched her fists.

"Okay."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"So that's it?" Nora asked."Huh… doesn't look very big."

"That's because we're five hundred meters away Nora." Ren answered.

"That makes so much more sense! Good job Ren, you're so smart!" she leaned over to Ruby and up a hand to her mouth as if to whisper only to her. "I need to let Ren have his moment to shine. Don't want him to feel left out."

Ren just sighed.

The place in question was the Warehouse and as Ren had just said they were just five hundred meters away, hidden by the lip of a small hill. It was dark, the last rays of sunlight were fleeting from the time it took them to make it here without giving anything away. There was no telling how many White Fang were hidden in plain sight, so they'd taken it low.

So the eight of them were laid flat on the ground – much to Weiss' irritation – with Ruby looking through her scope.

The Warehouse itself was old, made from grey steel and a tin roof. The walls were wooden and some of the windows shattered. It looked empty.

Apart from the two White Fang grunts guarding the wide entrance.

Ruby still hadn't said a word. Yang noticed.

"What is it sis?" she asked.

"I'm thinking."

"What about?"

"Whether or not I should aim for the head."

Everyone froze, and their eyes snapped to Ruby, who explained.

"There's no telling if they have aura but a surprise attack means that if they're not conscious that they're about to be hurt it won't flare up in time. If I aim for the head it'll take them down but if they don't have aura it'll kill them. I could aim somewhere else; the chest, arm, even the leg. But that means that they might have time to alert anyone inside the warehouse. If they have aura that could b good though since I could just keep firing till they run out and fall unconscious from the strain."

That was true Weiss thought. It was well known that if a person had aura, and ran out of it they were practically useless and could even fall unconscious if the damage was done quick enough. Even so…

"You can't be serious Ru," Yang gasped. "You can't kill them!"

"I said I was thinking!" Ruby snapped back. "If you have any other ideas then go ahead but I don't want to risk it."

When no answer came Ruby turned back to the scope, her trigger finger slowing pulling the trigger back.

"I think I have an idea."

Ruby stopped and they all turned to Jaune, who suddenly shrunk from everyone's eyes on him.

"Well if you got something vomit boy nows the time!" Yang whispered desperately.

"R-right" he said. "Well I was just thinking that instead of kicking it off like that and risk things like that, why don't we attack from three angles?"

"Go on."

The blond nodded as they crowed around in a circle. Jaune drew a skeleton map of the warehouse.

"Blake and Ren are the best at stealth, I think we all know that by now. So why don't they move in first _around_ the two at the front? If they can get in then they can get to a vantage point. From there the two physically strongest frontline fighters – that being Nora and Yang hit them straight on. They draw their fire and bulldozed down anyone in their way. Then the rest of us follow. Ruby with her speed and Weiss with her glyphs can get in their to help the fastest and while all this is happening Pyrrha and I can find a side route."

He nodded at Ren and Blake. "All we need to do is wait for some sort of signal from the two of you when you get in." his back straightened. "And that's the plan."

They all stared at him. In that moment Jaune looked determined, he looked brave and cunning.

He looked like a leader.

The moment passed and his shoulders slumped. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I-I mean that's all I got. It's not a perfect plan so if you don't think it's a good idea then –"

"It's a good plan." Weiss interrupted. She turned and nodded to Ruby. "I think it's work if we all work together. I put my support in Jaunes plan."

Ruby held her partners gaze for a few second before slumping herself. Cresent Rose held loosely in her arms. Yang's sigh of relief was audible to everyone there.

"Okay," she said. "We go withJaunes plan. You two have sixty seconds before we start moving without your signal. Let's get it started, now."

Ren and Blake were already on the move. The rest of them moved too but before Jaune could Ruby caught his arm.

"Thanks," she whispered. "I didn't wanna shoot."

He hesitated for a second. Then sent her a nod. "No problem."

They got into position. Ruby peered down her scope once more with Weiss at her side with Myrtenaster drawn.

The seconds ticked by agonizingly slow. Every moment felt like an eternity and Weiss' body yearned to move. She held back though, waiting for the signal as planned.

Waiting.

Waiting.

When the signal came, was in them of a gunshot.

Before Weiss' eyes everything erupted:

Light burst from instead the warehouse as gunfire roared. Nora and Yang had suddenly appeared at the entrance weapons ready. The Brawler intercepted the guard on the right with a right hoo and two jabs that sent him crashing into the wall. Nora slammed down Magnhild with a might battlecry before transforming it into its grenade launcher form.

Whatever they could see from the entrance must have been hostile because they fired into the building.

The Heiress raised a hand as her Glyphs formed beneath her feet and she dashed across the plain. She was a blur of white as she moved and from the corner of her eye she could see a flurry of rose petals keeping pace.

The sped past Nora and Yang and into the fray.

There were no lights for them to see. After all, Faunus had night vision. Fortunately the flashes of frantic gunfire from White Fang Grunts was enough.

Wiess slashed at one of them and slapped the side of her blade at another, both were sent careening back from her momentum. Above her she could just make out the shadows of Blake and Ren leaping from the upper levels. Slipping in to strike before disappearing again into the darkness.

To her left Ruby was a whirlwind of red. Thankfully not blood, but rose petals fluttered everywhere as her scythe made its arcs in the air. Ruby used every part of her weapon that she could to sent her enemies flying.

Suddenly there was a crash fro the windows and Wiess saw Jaune and Pyrrha leap through and barrel into a group of terrorists, throwing them to the side.

In just a few short moments they had decimated well over three dozen White Fang, but now that the initial shock had worn off the grunts began to organise.

They began fortifying behind boxes scattered around the deeper part of the warehouse. The Huntsmen and Huntresses did the same at their side. There were probably well over a hundred Grunts just in front of them.

Weiss pressed her back against one of the crates and sent a shard of ice out blindly. It must have hit something because there was a cry.

Yang crashed next to her with a grin on her face. "Oh yeah! This gets the blood pumpin' right Ice Queen?"

Weiss ignored the nickname in favour of looking around:

Ruby and Ren were stacked behind boxes of their own taking turns to fire and reload. Nora was grinning as she sent explosive into groups of enemies, with Jaune holding out his shield to protect her from fire when she got a bit too overzealous is her shots and forgot to take cover. And then there was Pyrrha using her shield as s stand like she had ar initiation, shooting down each target one by one with incredible efficiency.

Wait, there was something missing.

"Where's Blake?" Weiss cried.

Yang blinked before cursing and pointing at the enemy.

"She's right in the middle of them."

And so she was.

Weiss gaped as she watched Blake speed past. A blur of black as she cut down one after another with a ferocity that was terrifying. She was fast, vicious and…

"She's pushing too far on her own. Why is she rushing ahead?"

"Beat me," Yang answered. "But I think we should catch up before something goes wrong."

"How do we do that?"

Yang grinned. "I got an idea." And she slammed a fist against the crate at her back. It opened up and guns poured out. "These things are filled with weaponry. Even the ones they're hiding behind. What do you wanna bet some of them are still loaded with dust?"

Weiss caught her meaning and nodded. This was going to go against every decorum she'd been taught when handling dust.

Oh well, it was for a good cause.

Weiss ran a hand along her rapier and felt it heat up. She took a breath and made a move. Yang leapt out of cover to draw their fire; firing shotgun blasts at them endlessly.

The fencer aimed her blade at them as it came alight. A Glyph appeared for a moment before she thrust forward with a yell.

Fireballs shot forward and slammed into their cover.

The explosions were magnificent and the White Fang Grunts were scattered in the dust eruption.

Well, Yang had been right.

Ruby cried out an order as they pushed forward. Weiss flicked her blade to the side to wipe away the ash.

Now to find her teammate.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake slashed Gambol Shroud at the White Fang members face. He cried out in pain as the flat of the cold steel shattered his jaw.

She leapt upwards, flipping over another that thought he could sneak up on her. She sun, kicking him in the head and using him as a springboard as he went down to move onto the next one.

She was a deadly fury, a symphony of blades and she was _relentless_.

Two grunts tried to hit her from both sides with their own swords, only for them to pass through her body like mist.

Blake was already above them as her clone took the attack on lightning-fast she lashed out with her feet. They fell to the ground like dead weight, but there were still more.

" _Blake!"_

She grit her teeth. That had been Weiss' voice. She was getting too close. Blake glared at the White Fang members in front of her. She had to finish this quickly.

She sped forward, keeping low to the ground to avoid their gunfire. Back and forth with both blades at the ready.

She slashed a leg, swiped at an arm, stabbed at their hands. Dozens fell at her feet cradling wounds. Until there were just two left.

They were shaking, their rifles aimed at her.

She lunged forward ready to finish them.

"C-captain!"

And she froze.

"C-captain Belladonna." One of the Faunus cried. "It's you isn't it? why are you doing this?!"

She hesitated. They recognised her but were confused. News of her betrayal mustn't have spread very far yet. But that just made these two more dangerous.

She took a step forward. They took a step back.

"Captain please, think this through. Explain to us what's happening! Why are you working with humans? I thought-"

" _Shut up."_ She hissed. "Don't say another word." She had to do think quickly, before her team arrived.

She moved a fraction and in that instant, the Grunts realised she was their enemy. They opened fire, but missed the gun attached to a ribbon that flew in between them.

It went off.

The recoil slammed it into one of them, knocking them out.

But the other.

The bullet went straight through his head.

He was dead before he hit the floor.

Blake's eyes widened.

No, no, no! Not again! She couldn't have killed him. She… she hadn't meant to! She'd panicked, tried to rush things and forgotten that most Grunts hadn't even unlocked their aura yet. And now he was dead.

There was a click, the sound of a revolving chamber and Blake spun around, Gambol Shroud aimed at the sound.

She froze again, but this time there was ice in her veins.

"Weiss? What are you-"

"Silence!" the heiress grow. Myrtenaster was pointed at her dangerously. It was just the two of them, the others voices could be heard slowly approaching however. "Take off the bow."

Blake bit her lip and took a hesitant step forward. "Weiss listen to me-"

She snarled. "Take. Off. The. Bow."

The seconds past at a crawl and it felt like one wrong move could result in disaster. Blake squeezed her eyes shut and reached up to her bow, and with a small tug, the ribbon came free.

She heard Weiss gasp and her ears flattened against the top of her head

"So you're a Faunus," Weiss whispered and tightened her grip in the rapier, raising it higher. "So what is this? Are you an assassin sent to kill me? A low life terrorist meant to cause harm?"

Blake recoiled. She was shaking now.

""N-no! Please Wiess just let me explain!"

She didn't get to because right then the others appeared. Ruby saw them first.

"Oh thank gosh you guys are okay. Blake you can't just run off like tha…" she trailed off when she saw Weiss' weapon pointed at her teammate. "Weiss, what are you doing?"

"Why don't you ask _her?_ " she growled.

And in that moment, as they all turned to Blake and saw her ears.

She'd never felt more alone.

...

* * *

 **So while it's never said Blake must have had some rank in the White Fang before she left. There was the lieutenant but she was Adams partner and the daughter of the original leader so i'd say she had some standing before she left at least.**

 **Tensions are heating and next chapter should be the last one of Unrest. I hope you stick around for it.**

 **IF you want I'd recommend Following, favouriting and reviewing.**

 **What did you like? What did you dislike?**

 **Anyway, that's all I've got for now.**

 **Bye!**


	11. Unrest: Part 5

The atmosphere was heavy with danger at Weiss and Blake's standoff. They stood barely ten feet apart; Weiss with Myrtenaster aimed at Blake, and the other girl looking like a deer in headlights.

Ruby and Yang jumped between them, facing their respective partners less violence start.

"W-why don't we all calm down," Ruby tried. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this Weiss. You can't hurt Blake."

The Heiress ignored her leader, her eyes bore into Bake.

"You were trying to keep your identity a secret," she said. "You were afraid that they would reveal you, that was why you rushed ahead. And then when you got here you killed one that knew who you were." She nodded in the direction of the dead White Fang member. The others looked and Yang took a sharp intake of breath.

"I said the White Fang were murderers, it looks like they kill even their own to keep a secret. What did he call you? Captain Belladonna?" she tilted her head. "You're high ranking then."

Blake still hadn't said a word. Instead she was slowly inching back, her eyes wide with panic and her feline ears twitching wildly.

" _Well?!"_ Weiss snarled as she moved forward, pushing past a wide-eyed Ruby. "You haven't answered my question yet _Belladonna_. Are you an assassin sent to kill me? To kill a member of the Schnee family like so many of your kind have before?"

"I-I…"

"Weiss that's enough!" Ruby pressed, getting in between them again. "Let's just talk this through and I'm sure we can figure out what's going on. Besides we're not done here. There could still be more White Fang further in."

The white-haired girl glared at her partner and Yang turned to them to give her piece. At that moment all three members of Team RWBY took their eyes off Blake, and Team JNPR was so busy looking worriedly between Weiss and Ruby that none of them saw it until it was too late.

Blake leapt back, using Yang's back as a springboard and shooting Gambol Shroud into the air. It tore through the tin ceiling and dug into the roof. With a desperate tug it fell apart and the sheets of metal came crashing down.

The seven Huntsmen dodged out of the way of the debris, but when they next looked to where Blake had been.

She was gone.

"NO!" Weiss shouted, spinning in a desperate attempt to find out where Blake had gone.

"She disappeared." Pyrrha gasped.

"Did anyone see where?" The heiress cried.

Ruby raised her hands in a calming manner. "Weiss you need to take a minute to think."

"We don't have that time," she snarled. "If we delay any longer Blake will be gone for good."

The reaper shook her head. "No she won't. Blokes panicking right now, she hasn't put together that she can't leave without the bullhead. She has no supplies, lien or even an idea of where to go yet. We'll find her."

Weiss nodded. "You're right, then we can apprehend her."

"That's… not what I meant."

Ruby went ignored as the Schnee turned to the others. "We need to spread out, find Blake and make sure she doesn't get away."

Team JNPR nodded, albeit hesitantly, and turned to leave the warehouse. There was silence between the three remaining members of Team RWBY. Weiss looked between the two sisters with irritation.

"Well?" she said. "Are you coming or not?"

"Don't you think that was a bit of a bad idea ice queen?" Yang said softly.

"You can't be serious. She's obviously with the White Fang."

"You didn't give her a chance to explain anything Weiss!" Ruby tried again, her voice was begging her partner to see reason.

But the heiress wasn't moved. "She _ran_. That's a sure a sign of her guilt as any."

"You pointed your sword at her." Yang pointed out.

She grit her teeth and growled. "I'm going to catch her. You can't stop me, so either help or get out of my way." And with that she left.

Ruby and Yang didn't follow. The older girl turned to her sister.

"Well Weiss sounds determined… what now boss?"

Ruby closed her eyes and took a breath. "We find Blake, before Weiss does. If we can convince her to talk then I'm sure we can find out the truth."

"And if she is one of the bad guys?" Yang asked, although she didn't sound like she believed it. Blake was _her_ partner after all.

The smaller girl sighed. "I won't let our team fall apart after our first mission. We _will_ work this out… we don't have any other choice."

The blonde grinned. "Got it."

…

…

The town was alive.

The peaceful inhabitants of Grainsal were asleep, but the White Fang was very much active. One of them from the warehouse must have been able to contact for help and revealed that Blake was here because now they were on a full-on manhunt.

Blake ducked and weaved through the alleys as silently as she could, ears twitching at the tiniest of noises. She needed a plan, someplace to go. The obvious answer would be back to the inn to wait it out but her team was probably waiting for her there.

Where was she going anyway? Blake wasn't exactly sure, trusting her feet to take her someplace safe while she figured out what to do.

' _You're an idiot,"_ the voice in her head said. _"What did you think was going to happen? Did you think you would be some hero? That you could run away from everything you've done?"_

She grit her teeth and sped up.

' _Well you can't,'_ the voice continued. ' _You lied to your team, lied about who you were and ran away. You're a liar, a coward and a murderer. Nothing's changed since you left the White Fang.'_

It wasn't true, she told herself. She had tried to change. She'd joined Beacon for the chance to make things right. To be someone that Faunus looked up to and saw as someone they could trust.

 _And yet you still ended up running. What did you think a person like you could achieve? Why did you really do it? was it for fame? Glory? Revenge against the White Fang?'_

No! that wasn't it-

 _Because from the looks of it, you seemed very keen on the last one. What, with how you tore through those grunts like paper. With how vicious you were it almost felt like you wanted to hurt them and then when they recognised you it only got worse. Of course you resorted to killing that man._

That had been an accident-

 _Really? Because this isn't the first time you've killed someone, nor the second or third. Just how many lives are you willing to end to get what you want? Sure it's with you on a different side but the result is the same._

 _Someone dies. And Miss Blake Belladonna gets to run away from the consequences again._

As Blakes inter struggle continued she tripped over discarded trash, curing herself for losing focus she crossed the street and ducked into another alley.

 _What did you think was going to change anyway? You think that running away is going to make this any better? That's crazy.'_

"I'm not crazy." Blake growled through clenched teeth.

' _Really? Because talking to one's self definitely falls into that category. Oh, up ahead by the way._

It registered just as six White Fang turned the corner and saw her. They snarled and aimed their guns.

"There she is!" one of them yelled. "Shoot her! We can't let her escape!"

Nearly on instinct Blake leapt into the air, kicking off the wall as bullets whizzed under her. She planted one foot on the vertical wall and kicked off, doing the same thing to the other side, again and again as she rose higher and higher. Each time she would just barely avoid the dust projectiles as the chipped the stone she had just been in contact with.

With one last jump the cat Faunus' hands clamped onto the edge of the roof and she scrambled over the top. She flinched as a bullet bounced off her aura but didn't stop. They were already calling for help and she didn't want to stick around when it arrived.

Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud to keep her hands free even as her instincts screamed at her to be ready for a fight. But the fact was she would stand out even more with her favoured weapon draw. Better to find a place she could mix, blend in and disappear.

But first, she had to actually find somewhere safe.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Why aren't you using your speed semblance again?" Yang gasped out as she and her sister ran down a street.

Ruby's weapon was drawn in its sniper form while Yang gauntlets were primed and ready. They could hear the cries and yelling of the White Fang all around them, and were ready for a fight. Honestly, it was a wonder people hadn't woken up at all.

"because we might miss Blake if I run too fast." Ruby explained. "We might not blend in here but in this light – or you know that fact that there barely is any- means she's almost impossible to see. If I rush it I might miss her altogether."

Yang nodded. "Right, well if you know what you're doing then I guess I'll trust you."

The younger girl made a face that looked like she was frowning at herself.

"I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just worried that if we don't hurry then she'll get hurt."

The blonde snorted. "Come on, Blake can take on some White Fang grunts any-day."

"I meant Weiss… if she fights Blake first then I don't know what'll happen."

"Hey," Yang called while putting a reassuring hand on her leaders… her sister's shoulder. "I might not know Blake all too well but she's still my partner. She won't hurt Weiss no matter how much she argues with her. And she's strong. Enough to hold Weiss off until we can find them."

"Unless Weiss is trying to kill Blake." Ruby argued.

Yang's eyes flared red.

"That _won't_ happen, got it?"

Ruby didn't reply, facing ahead with her ever-watchful eyes and despite herself Yang did the same. Her sister was right; even if her partner could hold the angry Schnee off one of them could still be hurt.

Right now she needed to keep a look out and-

 _Wait_ … what was that?

Yang skid to a halt on a street corner and squinted into an alley. There was no light, and yet… she could see something… glow.

She took a step closer as her skin prickled with a freezing cold, and her breath was suddenly visible. What was that? What was it!? it was like a feeling in the back of her eyes that burned the closer she got… what was…

"What are you doing?"

Yang almost jumped out of her skin as Ruby's hand came down on her shoulder. She blinked, the red fading from her eyes as she looked to her sister.

"I thought I saw…" she trailed off. She looked back and the light had vanished, faded as fast as it had appeared… and the cold was gone.

 _What was that?_

Had Ruby seen it? she hadn't been looking, but right now she was prominently looking in the other direction.

"Come on, I think I picked up a trail but we need to hurry."

Yang shook her head clear. "R-right."

* * *

…

…

* * *

A dead end.

Blake cursed loudly. She trapped herself.

She didn't know these streets and with no time to plan she'd run straight into a corner she couldn't go back from.

Especially not with the sound of people getting closer. There was no other option, she had to fight.

Blake snarled as Gambol Shroud came free and was split in two. The dual blades – katana and cleaver – held in reverse grips as she took a wide stance; left foot forward and prepared to pounce.

They came around the alley corner; a dozen White Fang with their weapons already aimed at her.

There Blake stood, ready to fight for her life, teeth bared against her own kind and a dozen guns pointed at her.

When a storm of ice crashed into the ground and sent them flying.

They flew in every direction, slamming against the brick walls and slumping like puppets cut from their strings and Blake stared at its centre. Had… Weiss just saved her?

She was given an answer when the heiress spun around and levelled Myrtenaster at her. No, of course Blake wouldn't be that lucky.

"Freeze!"

In a hysterical part of her mind, Blake realised there was a joke there. Something Yang would have no doubt picked up on and – probably – butchered it beyond belief. Even in the short time Blake had known her partner she knew that the blonde had a thing for stupid jokes like that.

Why was she thinking about that now? She wasn't sure but chalked it up to fear.

Weiss was, of course, ignorant to her internal plight and schooled her face into a cold demeanour.

"Your attempt to flee has failed," she said. "it was a fair try, running the way you did… if it wasn't for these White Fang scrambling around I might never have found you." She nodded to the unconscious terrorists before turning back to Blake.

"Blake Belladonna, as a Huntress-in-training I hereby place you under arrest."

Blakes grip tightened on her weapon almost instinctively… Weiss noticed; her mouth downturned as she advanced forward. "Don't try to resist. If you do I _will_ use force."

The dark-haired girl grit her teeth and shook her head.

"No. I'm not going to turn myself in; there are things I still have to do."

"You should have thought of that before you did all this!"

Blake's frustration began to leak through as she growled and her ears flattened on her head. "Why can't you just _listen?!"_

"To a murderer?" Weiss spat. "I think not. I think the time for talking is over."

The Faunas agreed, tightening her grip she readied herself for a fight.

And promptly railed back as Weiss sword narrowly missed her head. It was only instincts that had saved her and those same instincts kicked in as she batted the steel away. She stumbled as her eyes widened in shock.

How had she moved that fast?!

There'd been no tell, no obvious movement or even tension in Weiss' legs… that-

Blake's eyes flashed down to the Heiress' feet. There were white Glyphs on the ground where she stood.

So that was how it worked: Weiss didn't so much really on speed as she did for her Glyphs to propel her forwards at high speeds.

This thought ran through her mind just as another thrust was pushed aside by her cleaver. A scowl spread across her face, perhaps even trumping her fear for a moment. She had been pushed onto the defensive almost in an instant. Her eyes flitted in the dark as she parried the next blow; this clash was already stacked against her: the alley was narrow, about the length of her body from one side to the other, not only that but she had a wall at her back that prevented retreat. It was almost like a piste… it was practically the perfect battlefield for Weiss, whose primary weapon was a rapier.

This had been a bad move from the start, and now she was cornered.

Blake cursed and crossed her blades as the Schnee stabbed at her again but this time she pushed forward, locking the rapier in place. She lasted out with her katana-

And hesitated.

The second that passed was what Weiss needed to free her weapon but Blake was already moving again, not with Gambol Shroud but instead planting her boot in her teammate's stomach and pushing. _Hard._

She suppressed a wince as the snow-haired girl smashed into a dumpster, her back folding before she hit the ground. It was fine, Blake told herself, her aura protected her.

And it did, because Weiss was already on her feet and lunging in against with a snarl on her face.

 _ **Clash!**_

 _ **Clash!**_

 _ **Clang!**_

Steel rung on steel as sparks flew. Their weapons were a blur, the two huntresses-in-training being speed fighters. Weiss' attacks were beautiful lines of silver against Blake's black steel. The Faunus however knew she had the advantage; Weiss relied on her dust just as much as her close-combat fighting style while Blake not only had the power advantage in close range but more experience.

So why was she on the back foot?

The answer was almost instant, and hit like a hammer:

She didn't want to kill Weiss.

It was ridiculous, here in front of her was the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, a company that pushed down the Faunus and treated them like dirt. She'd fought against them before, killed members of their company before.

But…

This was different.

It was different because this time Blake knew that Weiss was right… and she was wrong. Weiss knew that she was a huntress-in-training fighting the White Fang and before that she knew that she was training to be someone who could help people.

While Blake had been a terrorist, she'd killed defenceless people in the name of her beliefs, and hadn't even made a defence for the change she had so boldly and blindly fought for.

And when she realised she was wrong she didn't stop them. She ran, just like she was doing now.

In all honesty Blake knew that if she was actually a braver person, a more selfless she would have submitted, turned herself in and faced the consequences. But she wasn't. She was a coward that couldn't let the mistakes she'd made stay that way. She had to make things right.

She… more than that she didn't want to hurt Weiss because as much as she disliked her she… she respected her for reasons she wasn't even sure of herself.

Blake grit her teeth as she deflected another attack and knocked Myrtenaster away, drawing sparks as it dug into the wall.

She didn't want to run again after she'd made her choice; her choice to be a huntress and set things right, to stop the White Fang. To make things better for the Faunas. And if she was honest with herself she wanted to be a part of this team. Of team RWBY because for all its faults it made her feel more welcome than she ever had in the White Fang.

Her partner with her blinding smile, cocky attitude and god-awful puns. Her young, strange leader, who was bright, brave and had a desire to do what's right without hesitating… even Weiss, who was intelligent, dedicated to succeed and was so confident, so sure of her actions that you couldn't help but believe in what she was doing.

It had been just two weeks. And yet she knew all of this about her team. And… she didn't want it to end yet. Not so soon after it had started.

Blake's body surged with anger. She locked blades with Weiss once again but this time she didn't retreat. With all her strength she pushed forward. Blake pressed the tiny window of opportunity she got from Weiss' stumble.

She was on the offensive now; her attacks unrelenting.

The only way to win was to beat Weiss. To subdue her. Which meant she had to fight with everything she had.

Faster and faster she moved, weaving in and out of the Heiresses now desperate thrusts. She was pushing the girl back.

She swung both blades down on Weiss, the girl raising her sword to block it. the Heiresses arms nearly gave out from the force of the attack.

Again.

And again.

 _And again._

Weiss cried out as she was forced back, slipping as Myrtenaster was thrown to the side. Blake didn't even give her the chance to fall, moving into her guard, pressing her hip against her and locking her arm under Weiss' shoulder and with all her strength threw the shorter girl over her shoulder.

She hit the ground. Painfully, and the sound of her aura vanishing hummed in her ears.

And yet despite this Weiss wasn't done. A snarl passed her lips as she scrambled to her feet again.

Blake though, had had enough.

She lifted Weiss by the collar and slammed her into the wall, lifting her feet off the ground and holding her there.

"Enough Weiss!" she hissed. "You can't beat me and I don't want to hurt you."

The heiress wasn't impressed. "Don't talk to me you monster!" she howled. "I'll make you pay, I'll make all the White Fang pay for what they've done!"

"Weiss you can't-"

" _Do you know how many people I've lost?!"_

Blake froze. Her eyes wide as she stared at Weiss'; who was on the edge of frustrated tears.

"Every day of my life since as long as I remember I've been in danger from the White Fang. When I was little I had nightmares of Faunus sneaking into my bedroom and killing me." Her teeth ground against each other as she glared at Blake.

"What made it worse was that every friend I made as a child was just another target, another person the White Fang assassinated. I usually got the news days later. I've lost aunts, uncles even staff that worked in my home. All murdered by people like you."

She snarled. "You want me to listen to you terrorist? You want me to just give up? No! I'll hunt every last one of you down and bring justice to all of you!"

Silence.

That was all there was in the alley now, apart from Weiss' labour and angry breathing.

What could Blake say to that? After hearing how she'd been wronged by the very group she'd worked for – _believed in_ – what could she say?

"You're right." Blake whispered, and for some reason, in whatever Weiss had heard it made her pause.

"The White Fang are killers… they've gone too far and… I… I was a part of it. I'm as guilty as any o them because I was too _blind_ to see what we were doing was wrong. You're hatred of them – of me – is justified. But. I'm going to make things right. Not from inside a cell but out here, stopping the White Fang and making things right so that one day there can be peace between humans and Faunus. Real peace."

She looked into Weiss' eyes. "And if I have to bare your hatred, _everyone's_ hatred to absolve the sins of all of my people. Then I will!"

With her piece said Blake scowled at herself, looking away in shame. She almost didn't hear what the snow-haired girl said next. Her voice was soft, bitter, but not towards Blake this time.

"…To redeem the Faunus huh? Isn't that ironic?"

Blake didn't understand what she was referring to, but before she could ask there was a cry from their right. Blake's eyes widened a fraction more in the split second it took her body to react as she pulled Weiss into her chest to shield her.

Before a hail of bullets rained down on them.

Weiss coughed. She'd landed on her back with something weighing down on top of her. Her hands were wet and her eyes were filled with dust. After a moment she opened her eyes to see what was going on.

Her veins turned to ice at what she saw.

"B…blake?"

There she was; the Faunus girl on top of her, shielding Weiss with her own body. Her face was contorted in a pained grimace as Weiss realised what the wetness on her hands was.

Blood.

Her hands were covered in Blake's blood.

Blake, a White Fang terrorist aligned against the Schnee's and everything they were, had thrown herself on top of Weiss to protect her. Her aura had taken the attack for a moment before it had broken through and straight into her body.

"Why?"

It came out as a rasp.

"Why did you save me?"

Blake smiled down at her painfully.

"I told you already… I'm going to make things right."

Before Wiess could say anything in response the sound of heavy footfalls surrounded them, and then Weiss could see White Fang Grunts aiming their rifles at them. She felt Blake shift to shield her even more. She grit her teeth as she vision blurred with tears.

 _Why!?_

"Disgusting," one of the masked terrorists spat. "You betray us, turn your back on everything we fight for and then you protect a Schnee." He aimed the gun barrel right at Blake's head.

"This is your punishment traitor."

He squeezed the trigger.

And was hit by a meteorite.

Weiss gasped at their saviours.

A golden brawler with eyes of crimson, and a girl with a scythe covered in rose petals.

Yang's smile wasn't friendly.

"Alright you bastards," she roared. "Time to get crushed!"

"I think that's a good idea." Their young leader said. Her eyes weren't their gentle selves. They were steel. "Yang… get em."

She was happy to oblige.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Team RWBY and JNPR sat quietly in their inn room.

It had been an hour since they'd all regrouped. Yang had carried Weiss and Blake back on her shoulders, though neither had protested. The rest of the White Fang that the two sisters hadn't defeated fled from the town, nowhere to be seen.

There had been a bit of excitement when they'd returned and the others had worried over them. They'd asked questions; what had happened? Were they alright? Did they run into any more of the White Fang?

That was all pushed aside however when they saw what had happened to Blake.

Thankfully, and perhaps miraculously Ren had some experience in first aid and at that very moment was dressing Blake's wounds.

So there they were: Jaune and Pyrrha sat on the beds on their side of the room, Nora hopping restlessly from one foot to the other as she watched out the window, Yang stood with her arms crossed guarding the door, Ruby and Weiss were sat on their own beds too, while Blake sat at the foot of her bed as still as she could.

Not exactly out of awkwardness or fear –although it was still there – but because she had to let Ren bandage her shoulder. For that she had taken her shirt off, and was wearing only a grey vest to shield her modesty. Every so often she would wince when Ren dug the metal instruments into her wounds.

So when the silence had taken hold of them all Blake did they only thing she could think off: she told them her story.

Of how she was born into the White Fang, how she had been at the front of every rally and listened in to every peace talk… about how when the White Fang's tactics changed she followed blindly. Blake told them about her deeds, how she'd hut people… even killed.

She told them how she ran.

And when it was all finished she took a deep breath.

"So that's it." she said. "That's the truth."

She stared at her lap, unwilling or unable to look up for fear of how her teammates would see her. Would they give her looks of disgust? Fear? Hatred even?

Ruby was the first one to speak, but not to Blake.

"How's it going there Ren? Anything we should worry about?"

 _What?!_

The boy shook his head as he fiddled with a pair of tweezers.

"Her aura seems to have taken the brunt of the damage. Which is fortunate because some of the bullets look like the just barely missed her spine." He looked over Blake's shoulder as a way to speak to her directly. "There will be some bruising for a while on most of your back but nothing that will damage you permanently."

Despite the situation Blake let out a sigh of relief. As much as she'd flung herself on top of Weiss it had been a thoughtless action. Ad once the dust had settled she had been afraid of just what damage she'd received.

"The blood," Weiss whispered. "What about the blood I felt?"

Ren hummed. "That is the more unfortunate part; eventually you aura did give out Blake, and when it did your right shoulder was filled with dust projectiles. I've managed to dig out the leftover dust reside from your shoulder but… I can't say yet about any scarring. Again nothing was permanently damaged but when it heals over the entry wounds might still be there."

"That's… fine." Blake said.

He nodded. "Then I suggest swapping the bandages out for new ones every week just to be sure. If you really want though you could go to a hospital, they know more about it than me."

Where could she even go? Beacon? Was that even a place she could go back to?

Ruby could hear her unspoken question.

"It's up to all of us. I already know what I think but this is a team, so we'll put it to a vote… but what do you actually want Blake?"

She thought for a moment. What did she want? The answer was obvious, she wanted to stay, to go back to the chance she had to be a huntress… but she couldn't do them at anymore. She stood.

"I understand that things can't go back to the way they were before… I… I'll leave you to your own devices… I'm sorry."

She turned to leave, fully intent on walking out the door and leaving their lives before she could ruin them any further.

Or… she would have, if Yang hadn't blocked her path with a grin on her face. She looked towards her sister.

"I didn't know about you Ru, but I think my partner was pretty awesome fighting the White Fang back there. I think we should keep her around, it'll be fun at least."

Blake stared up at the blonde. Was she serious? After everything she'd just told them Yang shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"I think you're right," Ruby agreed and didn't seem fazed when the Faunus spun round to gap at her. "whatever you think Blake I'm the leader of this team… It'd be pretty unfair if I judged you for things you did before joining Beacon. I don't think anyone else is gonna judge either. Right?"

There was a chorus of positive noises from Team JNPR, with Nora of course shooting her a thumbs up for good measure.

Blake couldn't believe it. were they really that accepting of her after she'd just revealed that she had been a terrorist? Did they just no care?!

That was when Weiss stood. Blake froze, her feet suddenly rooted to the ground as the others went quiet.

Hesitantly, Weiss took a step towards Blake, then another. Eventually, she'd inched her way over to stand directly opposite the Faunus, all the while a tentative look on her face.

Then she stared at the floor, unable to look Blake in the eyes.

"You saved me," she breathed in a whisper. "Me, probably someone that many of Faunus kind hate for my blood… you even more so have reason to despise me, to let me die. Instead you fought to stop me without killing me, and threw yourself in danger to protect me." Her eyes hardened."You said you wanted to make things right? Well so do I."

"W-Weiss?" Blake couldn't believe what she was hearing.

The Heiress pressed on. "My goal. My _real goal_ is to redeem the Schnee Dust Company, to solve the injustices committed by my family; by my father and… and to make things right."

She met Blakes eyes with a determined look.

And held out her hand.

"Let's do it together. You and I, Schnee and Faunus from both sides working to make things right not just for ourselves, not just for our people but for everyone!"

With her word said Weiss kept her hand out, waiting for Blake to accept.

And she did.

Firmly and resolutely Blake shook Weiss' hand and even though her face was still morphed in shock.

She could feel something inside her that told her this was the right choice.

Blake reached into her pocket and looked down at her hand, to the ribbon in it. it was a small sacrifice, but if it meant she could start again then she–

"No."

She blinked.

"W-what?"

The Schnee's hard look was back as she put her hands on her hips.

"If we're going to do this, and we _are_ doing this then it won't be with you hiding your true self. You, Blake Belladonna, are going to stand proudly beside me as a Faunus so show that even the most unlikely of people can work towards something great. Not to mention I refuse to have a teammate that feels the need to hide herself away."

"But," Blake tried. "The others at Beacon –"

"Will deal with me if they have a problem with who you are."

"And me!" Yang added, casually cracking her knuckles.

"And us," Pyrrha smiled. "While we haven't known you for long you've finally been honest, not to mention risking your life. I think it's fair to say that team JNPR will support you also. Right Jaune?"

The Blond blinked. "yeah, obviously," he said. "I don't think we'd have been able to find a good reason not to even if we tried."

"Oh yeah!" Nora boomed. "Team JNPR representing you Blakey! You got a problem with anyone and we'll break their legs."

"Not quite that extreme," Ren argued. "But we will support you."

Ruby smiled. "So there you go Blake. Everyone's with you if you want to stay."

She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. Blake was so floored by their acceptance that she'd been rendered speechless. Every single one of them had rocked her world with her words… she didn't know what to say.

Yang did.

"Huh…"

"What is it?" their leader asked.

"Nuthin'," Yang ginned. "I just realised that the nickname kitten works soooo~ much better now."

The others groaned.

"Yang no."

"Yang yes."

Balek couldn't help it. Whether it was from the ridiculousness of Yang's words, the situation she was in or the weight that had suddenly disappeared from her shoulders she didn't know.

But she laughed.

She laughed and laughed and laughed.

With joy so freeing that the others couldn't help but join in.

Ruby smiled.

"Hey guys? Let's go back to Beacon."

...

* * *

 **And that's the end of the Unrest Arc. What did you think? Was it Good?Bad? Let me know what you think. For now anyway that's the end of the conflict between Blake and Weiss finished. I want to get into the nicer moments of team RWBY now. And I'll also be going deeper into AU material, adding to magic and other things, I can't wait to show you.**

 **Anyway, That's all for now. Be sure to follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **Bye!**


	12. Nice to meet you? Part 1

"Hello Beacon~!" Nora yelled as she hopped off the Bullhead, she was of course shouting into the air, there was no one but team JNPR and RWBY to hear her.

Ren smiled at his team leader.

"Well at least you didn't throw up this time. That's a good thing right?"

Jaune sank to his knees. "Ugh!"

"I'll take that as a no."

Weiss looked around at the hanger and hummed.

"You would think we would have someone here to greet us… although I suppose we did arrive back earlier than expected. You did send them a message ahead of time didn't you Ruby?"

"Yep," She said, hopping off from the airship. "But the CCT signal's kinda bad everywhere but Vale so it might've been delayed."

The Heiress shrugged as if to concede the point before looking at Jaune – still suffering on the ground – and sighed.

"One moment you're a competent strategist and the next you're a quivering mess. It's unbelievable."

"Gurgle!" was the only response she got.

Blake and Yang brought up the rear as the Bullhead took off again, probably back to storage or wherever the school airships went when they weren't in use.

The Faunus eyed her surroundings nervously as she fidgeted. Yang noticed and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax kitten. There's nobody here. You know you don't have to parade yourself around straight away. We could go back to our room if you want first."

"While I agree with you having some peace we still have something to do," Weiss said. "Namely reporting our mission to the Headmaster."

Ruby shook her head. "Nah, that's something only the team leaders need to do," she glanced at Jaune, who had finally managed to stand. An idea came to her. "Why don't I go for both of us?" she suggested to the members of team JNPR.

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? That might be a hassle for you."

"We went on the same mission, I doubt Ozpins looking for two sides of the story in this."

"That's _Headmaster_ Ozpin!" Weiss hedged. "Honestly, I would imagine you would show some respect to your teachers."

"Sorry Weiss." Ruby laughed, scraping the back of her head in a way to show that she wasn't _really_ sorry.

Her partner chose to ignore it.

"Go on then. I expect you to be back before lunch begins though!"

Ruby grinned and sprinted off, waving one arm in their direction as she left. In her other she pulled out her scroll and sent a message to the Headmaster to meet her up in his office. Knowing him he wasn't even there, probably dumping all his actual work on Miss Goodwitch as she wandered around.

Minutes later and a relaxing elevator ride later Ruby stepped into his office. He was sitting behind his desk with a mug of coffee in his hands. What was strange about this image was Amber lying on the floor and a layer of sweat drenching her. Her heavy panting let Ruby know she'd been doing something physically exhausting not too long ago.

"What happened to you?" she asked as she took the seat across from the older man.

The Fall Maiden's response was choking and wheezing, so the Headmaster answers for her.

"I was simply putting Miss Autumn through some… practical lessons. We were in the middle of them when I received your most recent text."

Ruby giggled. "You put her through the 'pain and gain' training? I think Uncle Qrow's rubbing off on you Headmaster."

The man did not refute the accusation, simply raising his much slightly before taking a sip.

"Now then," he said once he had finished. "What is it you wanted to speak to me about Miss Rose?"

The reaper smiled sweetly.

"I think you know… Oz."

And like that the atmosphere changed. Or at least the people in it did. It was not Headmaster and pupil speaking any longer… but a warrior and a wizard.

"When were you going to tell me my teammate was a part of the White Fang?"

He did not react in any noticeable way, not through facial expressions at least. But he did lower his mug to look directly at Ruby.

"It came up in the mission I assume."

"It came up," Ruby agreed. "There was an… argument between Weiss and Blake but we sorted it out."

"Meaning…?"

She sighed. "People were shooting at us and a few of us almost died, we completed the mission and none of the civilians even knew there was so much danger. But enough of that," she leaned forward. "You still haven't answered my question."

Ozpin wore a look on his face that Ruby knew well; it was the look he made when he was contemplation whether or not to tell her something. He was like that, Ruby had been out of the loop a few times before because of it.

Then instead of answering with words he reached into the drawer at the bottom left of his desk. He reached in and pulled out a bundle of files before politely handing them to the reaper. Still he didn't say a work.

Ruby looked between him and the files for a second before curiosity won out. She was a little surprised at what she saw:

It was a list of seven people; their names written on tabs at the side.

Weiss, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren and Jaune. She flicked through them. They were basic enough; a short bio, a little bit about their skills and personality early in the year. And then she got to Jaune's.

" _Ozpin!"_ she hissed.

The silver-eyed girl's eyes were wide, yet the older man said nothing.

"You're telling me that he faked his way into Beacon?! He forged his transcripts and you knew? Does Glynda know?"

He shook his head. "She does not," he confirmed. "It would hardly do to give the young man unfair treatment by making Miss Goodwitch think he's not up to par with the rest of the students."

" _He's not!"_ she cried.

"Now Miss Rose," he admonished. "Surely you don't expect me to take away an aspiring huntsmans dream just because of his records."

"I do actually," she bit back. "You want the best of the best here at Beacon. You took Jaune on; a guy with no combat training or huntsman education at all and even made him the leader of his team!" she shook her head in disbelief. "That makes zero sense! What crazy reason could you have for…"

She trailed off, freezing in place as her eyes widened even further. Her next words came out in a whisper.

"You can't be serious."

"I am. Completely."

"No Oz. you know it's not…" she couldn't finish. Amber finally interjected.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked. She tanned skin was flushed with a red tint and her breath was heavy, but finally at the right speed. She scratched the scars on her face as she looked between them.

The headmaster raised an eyebrow.

Ruby scoffed. "You're the teacher, you tell her." She sniped bitterly.

He sighed.

"It is a… long story Miss Autumn. As I explained to you in our recent lessons, millennia ago two Gods walked the surface of Remnant. They were the two brothers, one of light and the other of darkness." He took a sip of coffee. "For years they governed their new creations; Animals, Grimm, Faunus and Humans and for a time the world stayed still… stagnant" He paused. "For some reason, they left. One day, they simply abandoned Remnant… but not before leaving behind the relics."

He nodded to the Fall Maiden. "You are already aware of the one in this school, and you know that by collecting all four the user could do anything they wanted. Any wish, any desire would be fulfilled… that is a dangerous thing to have. If one wished it so they could control the minds of every living creature on the planet."

He stood now, turning towards the window and looking out as they two girls listened silently.

"The Gods knew this. And while it seemed they would leave us to such a fate they created one contingency plan… the Gods… I do not know where they came from, but where ever it was had its own stories and legends. Great and terrible ones that inspired awe and wonder. So when they left they created… templates: People that would be born to reference these stories and legends… and they, are completely immune to the effects of the relics. They are called… Avatars.

He turned back to them.

"Every few generations a few of these avatars will appear. Sometimes just one or two, or perhaps even four or five. The most that have ever appeared in history is eleven. Not only are they free from the relics control they also have a power they might never realise. It is called an… awakening of sorts in which they reach towards the Gods themselves. I've seen it once or twice and it is truly a sight to behold."

He voice became grave. "However there is also a cost. The avatars are intertwined with destiny in a way no one else is. They grasp it, toy with it and can either embrace it or reject it fully based on their actions. Sometimes it is things practically unnoticeable." He motioned to Ruby.

"Miss Rose is one such Avatar; her origin is based on a fairy tale called 'Little Red Riding Hood' the first parallel is obvious simply by looking at her attire."

Ruby clutched her red cloak tight around her.

He went on.

"Other times they have more… tedious factors: Like for instance, Miss Rose is the most likely to be targeted by a Beowolf, even if there are many other people – perhaps even easier targets – around her. With years of research one could find out so many things about an Avatar; from a legend they could learn their feats, their strengths, Weaknesses and sometimes their hopes and fears. Of course as I said they are not bound by these things and can quite easily leave them behind if they are aware of whom they are. But if it is kept from them they might… gravitate towards their stories."

He looked down at the file.

"And perhaps even suffer for it… Honestly I don't know if it is from my own acts or what the work of the Gods have set for me but this is the first opportunity of its time."

Ruby bit her lip.

"How many?"

"What was that?" the headmaster asked.

"How. Many. Of. Them. Are. Avatars."

"Out of the ones in these files…"He hesitated and looked to the side.

"All of them."

The hiss that passed between Ruby's teeth was audible in the otherwise quiet room, but Ozpin pressed on as he listed them in a cold tone. Like they were just statistics.

"Weiss Schnee: Snow White. Blake Belladonna: Bella. Yang Xiao-Long: Goldilocks. Pyrrha Nikos: Achilles. Nora Valkyrie: Thor. Lie Ren: Mulan… and Jaune Arc: Joan of Arc."

The girl fell back into her seat. "That's why you accepted him… right? Because his story involves a girl who started from nothing, and became a legend."

The white-haired man intertwined his fingers. "Correct. Ironically it seems every member of team JNPR is the opposite gender of their origin. Although in each case there is a point where they pretended to be the other sex. You know them don't you? Achilles once called himself-"

"Pyrrha." Ruby growled. "I know all this Ozpin. Don't forget that I read them too."

Amber eyes shifted between the two figures. "What do uh… what do you mean by 'read' them. If they were written down then people would know about them surely. I mean…" the Maiden flailed her hands uselessly. "Come on."

Oz sighed, getting further into his teaching role.

"There is a… not quite a place – for it can't be accessed physically – that holds the legends and fairy tales of the two brothers. It can only be accessed by someone who has come into contact with the Gods. That should have meant they disappeared a few generations after the Gods vanished… but I remained. And so I have access to them, and by proxy, anyone I am in contact with can enter. It is called the Odyssium… or at least it was by its scholars."

He looked at Ruby.

"Miss Rose spent a large portion of her years scouring this library. Reading every book, every tome and every page she could… and while she is by no means finished her journey through it, she knows perhaps as much as I could possibly teach her. Definitely enough to recognise an Avatar by their name."

"And that's why you didn't want Yang involved." Ruby said in a low voice, and when the Headmaster stopped she looked up at him. "You made sure to keep my sister away so that Raven wouldn't realise her daughter was an Avatar."

"If she did then she might make a move for the relic. They are invaluable assets."

"You promised."

Silence. A thick, heavy silence that chocked the air only interrupted by the gears of the tower ticking slowly.

"Ruby-"

"You promised me you wouldn't rely on the Avatars!" she howled, shooting to her feet. Amber recoiled from the aura rolling off her protector. Ozpin was not fazed, or at least if he was he didn't show it.

"Ruby… You know as well as I do how important the Avatars are. No matter what time, what age they appear in they are always at the centre of great change. When eleven Avatars converged it was nearly eighty years ago… and Remnant was engulfed in the Great War. We _need_ them Miss Rose."

"Yeah, and when you make a move with them things go wrong," she disputed. "You 'eyes' are just based off of Odin's legend as his birds. But when you used them too much Raven abandoned you and I took her place years later. I already knew there were an above average number of Avatars; that was clear when you let Sienna Khan go unsupervised, and what happened? She's the leader of a terrorist group."

He sighed. "Yes, you are right. In these cases I have made miscalculations in-"

"And let's not forget the most important one." The reaper growled. Oz stilled.

"Miss Rose." He whispered.

"I mean it's probably one of your bigger mistakes."

"Ruby." He said, louder this time.

"Who did it involve again? Oh yeah, my mom-"

" _ENOUGH!"_ The wizard thundered. Energy crackled around him as his eyes lit ablaze… but all that stared back was cold silver. When Ruby continued it was in a bland tone.

"You thought that because her Origin was Dorothy she'd be able to kill Salem; The Wicked Witch of the West. To you it probably made sense that it was the perfect time… There was you, the Goodwitch, the Tin Man, The Lion and the Scare Crow."

She let out a breath she was holding… the Headmaster did the same.

"Except she went alone, fought alone… and died alone." She looked him straight in the eye. "All because you though her being an Avatar, _The perfect Avatar_ to counter Salem that she would win. And when she didn't I lost my mom. So you tell me Ozpin, are they so valuable that you'd risk their lives, and the lives of the people around them like you're doing with Jaune?"

"…I am."

The last Rose looked down at the file again. "How can you be sure that it's even him?"

"A number of reasons really… His name would not be enough evidence on his own but the fact that he, a civilian with no training was brave enough to try to enrol, not to mention seems to have a natural ability for strategy I believed it so… however the most damning piece was that he seems to be having trouble with one student by the name of Cardin Winchester. Who is opposed to him for seemingly no reason."

The slow nod that came from Ruby was confirming. "The Cardinal of Winchester," she said. "He's the one that orders Joan of Arcs execution."

"Indeed. While Cardin is not an Avatar himself his character is integral to her story and so it was this little titbit of information that confirmed my suspicions."

Ruby said nothing for a moment, before letting out a breath, and standing up.

"I'm going back to see my team… you'll find my report for our mission on the database by this evening. Thank you for speaking to me Headmaster." She turned to leave and the elevator opened but before she could step in the man called out to her.

"Do you still blame me for Summers death?"

She didn't turn round, at least not fully; the side of her face just visible as she pulled up her hood.

"Yes."

And the doors closed shut behind her.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang watched as her partner's eyes flitted left to right nervously and felt the urge to say something, but thought better of it. it looked like at any moment she might jump out of her skin. It was at least a little easier to see how she felt; her ears twitching at every sound was helpful.

They were in the cafeteria, having changed back into their uniforms and gotten ready to eat. (Yang had thrown her clothes in the wash, pungent with the smell of sweat, grime and dust powder it was a wonder her team hadn't said that might be because they were in the same boat.)

Blake had kept her end of the bargain and discarded the bow, allowing her Faunus traits to be seen by the world.

And it was drawing stares.

Not everyone of course, this was still a place filled with teenagers and while many might be interested there were still a lot that just didn't care to look or didn't want to get involved. One group however was the most obvious:

Team CRDL. The four of them had zeroed in on Blake the moment she walked into the hall and had begun sneering at them. Their looks normally wouldn't have been of any concern to Yang but her partner was already skittish as it was.

Weiss had noticed it too and so the two of them had flanked their dark-haired teammate as a way of offering their bodies as shields. It worked to some extent: Yang had a way of drawing attention from other people and Weiss' cold glared silenced most people.

Fortunately team JNPR was like an island in the sea of eyes, Nora having seen them earlier and loudly waved them over to their table.

There were still a few scowls and stares but most of it died down as they sat. Pyrrha sent a kind smile their way.

"So did you get everything with the Headmaster sorted out?" the red-head asked.

Weiss nodded. "Ruby just sent a message on her scroll moments ago, she said she would be meeting us here soon."

Nora grinned. "So how do ya feel? We're the first teams this year to do any missions an I think we did pretty awesome."

"Honestly I am quite pleased," Weiss said. "Despite the… complications faced due to my recklessness I think we should all be proud of what we have accomplished in such a short ti-"

"Not that silly," Nora laughed. "I'm talking about how _fun_ it was to kick so butt!"

Ren rolled his eyes and smiled even as the Heiress sighed and Yang snickered.

"Well I think it was awesome," the brawler smiled. "Got my blood pumpin' and everything."

"Of course a barbarian like you would enjoy getting shot at."

"What was that Ice-Queen?" Yang said with a predatory smirk which was received with a scowl.

"Only that your joy for the face we fought against a numerically superior force fits the description of a common brute Xiao-Long!"

"Aww~" Yang cooed. "You care about me! Isn't that sweet."

Weiss shot her a look. "What part of that gave anything to suggest I cared about you? I would sooner feed my hand to a Grimm than bond with you."

"Well I think I'd give a leg to be your bestie Weiss-cream. Wouldn't you Blake?"

The Heiress spluttered indignantly at the pun as Yang laughed. The others of course groaned.

Apart from Blake. She could see clearly that the whole thing was meant as a sort of joke. Their voices held no venom. And it made her smile at their antics. It was nice.

That was until she heard a cruel bark of laughter from a few tables away.

The others heard it too judging by the way they stopped what they were doing to see the source. It didn't help that the rest of the cafeteria had done the same.

Yang frowned, her cheery demeanour waning a little. "What's so funny Winchester?"

That's right, Blake thought. Wasn't he one of the other first years to graduate? Wait, yeah she'd heard him talk in Oobleck's history class before they'd left for their mission. His team had gone to Forever fall hadn't they?

She supposed she should have said hello to him at some point at least to politely introduce herself but right now from the way he was sitting – back leaning against his table, arms splayed wide and head held high so that he looked down at them – that didn't seem so appealing. He looked the picture of arrogance.

When he spoke, Blake's eyes twitched on the top of her head at the condescending tone in his voice.

"Oh nothing. I just thought it was funny that you asked the opinion of an animal on something like friendship."

Before Blake could even think about shrinking in on herself or responding in some way to defend herself Yang growled.

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

He didn't look fazed. "I'm saying that Faunus probably don't understand things like that. They're not intelligent enough… well, the might understand companionship, _like a dog."_

Yang and Weiss were on their feet in an instant. The Schnee Heiress was sending the coldest glare she could muster at the teen, and her hand's twitched as she reached for Myrtnaster, which wasn't at her side.

The blonde brawler didn't have need for something like that and marched over to Cardin with her fiery fury until she was centimetres from his face, growling up at him menacingly.

"You' trying to start a fight Winchester? Cause' I'll give you one if you don't watch your mouth."

He smirked. "Go ahead, I can take you no problem."

Yang bared her teeth and raised a fist, fully intending to deliver a right hook right to the punks jaw.

Only for someone to intervene.

"Alright that's enough Yang."

Everyone paused at the appearance of Ruby, how stood at the side of the two teens with a placating smile on her face. Or it would have, if the feeling of dread hadn't come over Yang when she looked at that smile.

Her sister went on.

"There's no point in getting into a fight here. We'll all just get into trouble for it. Maybe settle things in a sparring match? Come on Yang, we were going to relax after our mission right?"

The blonde didn't miss the way she emphasised the word 'mission' and despite the anger she was feeling towards the guy in front of her she let out a breath.

"Yeah, ok." She said, turning back to her friends and moving to sit down. That would have been the end of it were it not for the fact that Cardin just _had_ to get the last word in.

"Oh what's that?" he called out loud enough that the whole hall could hear him. "looks to me like the freak lovers are cowards too. What? Afraid I'll beat you?"

Before Yang could respond with an insult of her own her sister spun around and shot him that same smile, although now it had a bit more teeth in it.

"Oh we'd never worry ourselves about that… by the way, what's with the bandages on your arm for?"

The leader of team CRDL flinched back and cradled his right arm, attempting to hide the evidence as people turned to look. Yang just caught sight of the wrapping under his sleeve. "How did you-"

"Where could you have gotten something like that though? Oh, wait, weren't you and your team taken to Forever fall while we went on our mission? But there should only be some lesser Grimm around there… don't tell me someone as _strong_ as you got hurt there."

His face flushed red.

"Why you little-"

"Nah! That couldn't be it. silly me. Anyway, we'll just go back to our table now. We wouldn't want to bother you with the mission that the teachers sent _us_ on. See you Cardin."

And while turning her back to him and shutting down any retort he had, Ruby also succeeded in turning the laughter his way.

When she sat down a few of her friend were smiling, particularly Blake, who just looked happy that her teammates had defended her. Weiss actually gave her leader an impressed look. She smiled back at her, but when she did Weiss suddenly frowned.

"What's wrong Ruby? You look… drained. Did something happen?"

"What? Oh no it's nothing," she lied easily while smiling again. "Just that all the stuff we've been doing recently's finally caught up with me. I think I need some time to relax."

Her partner hummed before snapping her fingers.

"Why don't the four of us go into Vale tomorrow? I'm sure it has plenty of places to do just that."

"That sounds fun," Yang grinned. "What about you Blake, feeling up to it?"

The Faunus thought for a moment. "I suppose there are a few things I could pick up while we're there if that's alright."

"Okay then." Ruby agreed. "We can go into Vale tomorrow." She turned to Jaune.

"What about you guys, do you have anything planned?"

The boy shrugged. "We were thinking of just heading to the training rooms. Pyrrha was saying I should get some more practice in."

Weiss hummed.

"Perhaps. I'll admit I was fairly impressed with your planning on such a tense situation."

He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed but pleased with the compliment.

"Yeah, but when it came to the fighting I might have relied on Pyrrha a little too much."

The champion smiled as she laid a hand on him reassuringly.

"It's fine Jaune. Besides with help we can all work to improve."

"And me and Ren will help!" Nora boomed. "We can join in on the fights, what do ya' say Renny?"

"That… sound's good." Apparently not, judging by the haunted look that had appeared on the quiet boys face. Truly, the thought of fighting Nora even in a spare was a terrifying one.

The electric teen didn't notice the look (Or maybe she did, just choosing to ignore it) and smiled. Everyone else at the table eventually did too and when lunch had ended the two teams waved goodbye to each other.

There was a pleasant enough mood when team RWBY made it back to their rooms, relaxed enough that when Yang leapt up to her bunk Weiss didn't comment on how she'd messed up perfectly good sheets.

Instead she sat down at the desk next to the door and pulled out a textbook of some sort, seemingly zoning in right away. Blake sat on her own bed and pulled out a book of her own to read. Eventually Yang turned to one of the walls, pressing a button with her scroll. (Recently Beacon had added TV projector to students rooms, they'd gotten a… budget rise of sorts from the council) It flicked on with a noise as it created light in the now dimmed room.

Blake hesitated as the sound of the TV filled the room. It wasn't too loud, so at least Yang was being thoughtful enough in that regard but there was something she felt she needed to say.

"Hey… guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Yes?"

"What is it?"

Her ears flattened against her head as she coughed into her fist to mask a flash of embarrassment.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for…yo know, standing up for me in the cafeteria earlier." She looked away. "I've… never had people that weren't Faunus stand up for me about things like that."

Weiss raised her head a little higher, whether she was preening over the thanks or just feeling superior over it was unclear, but either way it was a good just shrugged as if to say 'it was no problem', Yang was the vocal one f the trio.

"Aw, don't sweat it Kitten. I for one was just lookin' after my partner. Although _maybe_ punching him would've caused more problems that he was worth."

A small smile tugged at the dark-haired girl's lips.

"I would have bee fine seeing that."

"Oh~ feisty, I like it!" Yang laughed.

The banter between partners went back and forth a bit more, and after a few moments Ruby decided to leave them to it, instead taking an interest in whatever book Weiss was looking over. The Heiress jumped a little in surprise as rose petals fell onto the surface of the desk.

"Whatcha reading?" the younger girl asked innocently, bent over slightly to read over her own partner's shoulder, arms behind her back and eyes curious. A look passed over Weiss' face before she shook her head and answered the girl.

"It's study notes; my sister sent them to me a few days ago and I just recently received them."

Ruby looked sceptically at the 'study notes'. It was a textbook, plain and simple and from the look of it, well over three hundred pages. She said as much to Weiss but instead of looking embarrassed she nodded as if it was completely normal.

"Yes," she said. "My sister was very keen on helping me succeed here, so she had one of the most detailed collections of material compiled for me."

The reaper nodded slowly, deciding to accept it for now.

"So what are you looking over right now?"

Weiss brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she spoke, her eyes trailing the pages.

"Well… at the moment I'm going over dust – yes, as a Schnee I am already well versed in what dust is – but even I have much to learn about its practical capabilities. What do you know of dust Ruby?"

"Oh, you know," She said with a half-shrug. "Just what I need to I guess: I know it can come in crystals and powders. And that it's used to power pretty much everything on Remnant. But uh… must of the stuff I know is around… well, weapons."

"I see," Weiss smiled. "Well that is not an insubstantial amount – and I did expect the bit about weapons – there is still a lot more to know. Right now I'm going over how a person can use it: the author talks about dust ammunition, dust crystals and powders that can be activated with aura and… well…"

Weiss' frowned in thought. "I'm not sure what to think of the last method."

"What is it?" the younger girl asked, finally pulling up a seat to get more comfortable beside Weiss.

"It says here that if a person chooses that can infuse dust with their very body… this way that have a near infinite supply of dust, so long as they take into account that it will substitute their energy for their semblances. A balancing act of sorts."

"That sounds cool," Ruby murmured. "But there's a catch right?"

"There is," she confirmed. "The infusion is a dangerous procedure, one that can kill the participant if they are not careful. Not only that but it is a permanent act. Once the dust has been melded with a person there is no reversing it and such things mean that the side effects are a major part of their lives from then onward."

"And those side effects?"

Wiess sighed. "When the person infused with dust reaches a high emotional level dust crystals will begin to form on their skin, leaving them highly volatile and a danger to the people around them. Also, like I said before it is a taxing thing on a person semblance, without proper training it could lead to serious harm… there are other drawbacks as well as advantages but the whole idea just seems… archaic to me. Why would someone put themselves at such risk when other methods are safer."

"I'm not sure," Ruby whispered. "But I think that when people feel it's the only way to get stronger they'll do anything. I guess if it meant saving someones live a huntsman might be asked to do something like that."

Weiss looked like she thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe." She allowed. "I suppose I'll have to read into it a bit more to form an opinion."

Ruby was about to respond when Yang called out to them.

"Hey guys take a look at this." She said, pointing to the projection on the wall. Blake was already sitting forwards, her face in rapt attention.

It was a person – a Faunus, judging by the tiger ears – standing on a podium with microphones pointed at her face. The woman was definitely a striking figure: her skin was a dark shade, that was brought out by the red bindi on her forehead. Her eyes were sharp, bright and focused, a dark gold that suggested drive behind them. Not to mention her outfit, Mistrialian in design was as stunning as it was well crafted. Showing off her tattoos and muscles on her arms.

At once many people would recognise this figure, but the name flashing at the bottom of the screen told viewers anyway:

Sienna Khan. The leader of the White Fang organisation.

"Why is that woman on the news?!" Wiess squawked. The question went unanswered by her team. A voice could be heard over the footage.

"Good evening people of Vale. This is Lisa Lavander here with the story. This morning at ten fifteen Sienna Khan, Leader of the White Fang in Mistral accepted an interview from several reporting agencies. This is after months of denying such people. The change in attitudes was noticed by many people around the world and many were wondering just what would come from this."

The camera zoomed in on Sienna Khan's face.

"These were her words to the people."

And then suddenly there was a canopy of noise where team RWBY realised they'd cut to actual audio. There were dozens of voices, maybe even hundreds, clamouring and yelling over one another to have their questions heard. The tiger Faunus was fazed by none of it; her eyes roaming the crowds.

She raised a hand and everything went silent.

She didn't thank the reporters for coming, nor did she greet them r even acknowledge them in away way. Instead she stared at the cameras.

"I come here to deliver a message to the people of the world. To speak to the Faunus too afraid to stand, and the Humans that would listen: You know who I am. You what I lead. And you know what I will do to achieve my goals. I will not strain to repeat them…"

Her face hardened.

"What the people do not seem to know is _what_ we stand for or who the warriors of the White Fang are!" she spread her arms wide. "I have heard the stories, how those in power wish to portray us: They dub us terrorists, Fanatics, rabid animals who need to be put down."

Weiss coughed into her fist and looked away. That was painfully close to what she had said directly to Blake not too long ago. The Faunus did not say although however, instead of resting a reassuring hand on the Heiresses back.

Sienna Khan was not finished.

"The White Fang is none of these things;" her voice got louder as she made a sweeping motion with her hands. "We are the defenders of the Faunus kind that have for too long been treated like the lesser species. We are the punishers of the fools that would harm our children with their vileness. _We are the force of revolution for all of our people!"_

The tiger woman bore into the cameras again.

"Which is why I have decided to assure the kingdoms of the world that while change _is_ coming, they can survive the oncoming storm through their own efforts to fix the problems within themselves. This is not a request, but a demand." She leaned forward on the podium. "Whether they decide to follow it will decide their fates."

And with that the screen cut back to Lisa Lavander with a microphone in her hand.

"Strong words from a woman with such great influence on our will have to wait and see where this leads the White Fang, for now we'll keep you up to date with all the latest. My name is Lisa Lavender and this has been VNN."

It went on to talk about other stories but Yang had turned it down by then. The blonde glanced between her teammates. Ruby had climbed back into her bunk as Blake leaned against her bed. Only Weiss had not moved from her spot, a cold look on her face.

"Well, that's definitely a thing… wow, wasn't expecting that."

Weiss crossed her arms and glared at the wall.

"How could they even allow the White Fang a platform like that to speak?"

"Well they are an influential group," Blake answered hesitantly. "There are many Faunus who support their cause, and strangely enough some humans too despite the Fang's… stance against them. A group like that gets a lot of coverage because it brings in money for news agencies. Not to mention they can't _silence_ their voices in case it's seen as outright bias."

The heiress huffed. "Well it certainly doesn't convince me. Not after being shot at by people she claims 'aren't terrorists'… we know first hand that she is spreading deceit."

"I wonder about that."

Weiss blinked in surprise.

"Blake?"

"I-it's nothing," she said. "I just think that… I'm not sure. Sienna Khan's an honest person, even if she's ruthless. For her to lie in front of some my people just seems… out of character."

Ruby tilted her head. "So… what do you think?"

"I'm not sure," the Faunas girl replied. "maybe it's nothing."

She didn't sound convinced.

"Well we can think about it later," Yang said, steering the conversation in a different direction. "What do you guys wanna go tomorrow? I'm up for anything."

Blake hummed, comfortable with moving onto saver areas of talk.

"There's a bookshop I want to visit in Vale if that's okay? I know the owner and have an order placed…" her ears twitched. "Weiss… is that a notepad?"

"Of course," the regal girl answer shamelessly with her head held high even as she scribbled down a list. "It is important to plan out all areas of an activity so that we may receive its whole benefit."

Yang burst out laughing a second later, rolling onto her side.

Weiss flushed, realising she'd done something to trigger it.

"What's so funny Xiao-Long?!"

It only made her laugh harder.

Ruby smiled atop her bunk as she watched her sister and partner go at it. She smiled even wider when Blake joined her on the top bed to avoid the chaos that was slowly building – mostly Weiss throwing pillows as the brawler – and sent her a wink.

Blake responded In kin, before flashing some lien.

Oh they were placing betswere they?

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ozpin gazed out his window to the courtyard below. His mug was strangely absent as his demeanour worried Professor Goodwitch.

"So what do you think then?" she asked him from the other side of the desk. She was careful to watch his face in the reflection.

"I cannot be certain… but I fear it is the start. We must keep a watchful eye to find the signs before it becomes an issue. For now however we have more pressing matters to attend to. James will be arriving soon will he not?"

The woman nodded, handing him the scrollpad in her arms.

"Yes, General Ironwood has decided to personally oversee the transport. It will be well guarded and should arrive in our hands without trouble."

"A comfort." The Headmaster said as he stared down at the screen in wonder.

"We must focus our resources on its research…"

The image was clear… and its contents dangerous.

"This black dust."

...

...


	13. Nice to meet you? Part 2

Weiss looked over her clothing with a critical eye, humming to herself. What to pick though? That was the question. She'd taken a few outfit choices into the bathroom with her (Weiss had set a rule down a while ago that no one was to change in front of each other. There were enough opportunities for awkward moments as it was, not even considering Ruby's age) but she was still having some difficulty deciding.

There was a bang on the door.

"Weiss _come on!_ " Ruby's muffled voice groaned from the other side. "You've been in there for the last twenty minutes. We'll waste the whole day if you don't hurry up."

The heiress harrumphed stubbornly but did give the clothes laid out one last look. Alright, that one!

Getting dressed was a quick and nearly surgical procedure and when it was done Weiss took a moment to inspect herself in their wall mirror:

She wore a white coat, simple in design but effective in bringing out the pale blue blouse she had underneath. It was a fairly mild day so she'd decided against tights of any kind and just done a skirt that brushed her knees. Weiss had also forgone her usual heels, instead wearing pale white boots. (That also had heels on them but she was a refined individual!)

"Ready." She called, and hopped the bathroom door.

And stopped to blink at her teammate.

Blake and Yang were fine:

The Faunus was wearing, black leggings, boots as well as a dark hoodie, which Blake had assured them she only wore so that she could hide her ears in the case of troublesome racists in town. In her own words she didn't want to waste time on people who would no doubt single her out. Weiss had earlier said that they wouldn't be in such parts of town but relented all the same.

Yang's clothing selection was more… well, _her_.

The blonde wore a fairly tight orange shirt that did a good job at showing off her cleavage without actually _showing_ it off. Over it was a brown leather jacket, and Yang had actually put on pants this time! In the form of slightly baggy ones. (was cargo pants the correct term to use? Weiss wasn't sure, no one had ever worn something like that back home for obvious reasons.) Yey she still managed to make it look good. The brawler hadn't changed her own footwear though they had probably been comfortable enough. A scarf of the same orange colour that she always wore completed the look.

But as stated before Weiss though what they were wearing was fine. The problem was Ruby.

"Why are you still in your combat clothes?!" Weiss cried out. Seriously, the girl had made no changes from what she was wearing. It was the same get-up she sported when fighting Grimm and terrorists.

The reaper didn't seem to realise how this was a problem.

"What?" she asked like there was nothing wrong. "this is kinda one of the only things I have to wear so-"

"No!" Weiss interrupted. "You're not going out in that," she said as she grabbed her partner by the shoulders and shoved her into the bathroom. The heiress turned back to her other teammates.

"You too go on ahead. We'll meet you after a get this dunce into something proper."

"Okay have fun," Yang said with a smile even as her sister protested. "Tuskson's book trade remember? Don't take to long ice queen. Come on kitten."

With that they two of them left, Blake grumbling quietly about the nick-name once again. Weiss let out a sigh as she shut the bathroom door with a whining Ruby inside.

Again her leader's voice was muffled by the door.

"Weiss…? You know I don't have anything else to change into right?"

The Schnee sighed but instead of letting Ruby out, reached for her own clothes. They were some of her more simple attire but they would do for Ruby.

"Here," she said as she went back to the bathroom door, opening it slightly and extending her arm out. "Put these on then."

There was a pause as she heard her teammate stop. The weight of the clothes left her arm and she nodded as she closed the door again. Faintly Weiss could here Ruby's clothes fall to the floor as she changed.

The fencer leaned against the wall with one shoulder and waited, fixing a few strands of hair behind her ear as she stood. It took some time but eventually there was a knock, and Weiss took it as a sign that her partner was ready, so she opened the door to inspect the outfit properly.

Ruby had kept her boots and cape (Although she wouldn't argue about the latter, they'd had an argument early on about wearing it with her uniform. Things had gotten pretty heated when Weiss ordered her to remove it.) for the rest it looked like she'd gotten a bit inventive:

Most of Weiss' clothes were pale colours, and from just grabbing anything she could the heiress had given Ruby a white jacket. Instead of that however Ruby had turned it inside out; and the black material was now facing outwards. It was actually a pretty good look. The rest was pretty simple: A grey skirt and tights and a shirt of the same colour.

Ruby had… actually done a pretty good job. Who knew she'd have an eye for fashion. Weiss was about to compliment it when her leader fidgeted.

"What is it?" Weiss asked curiously.

Ruby coughed a little. "It's nothing, just that uh… it's a little… small in the chest area."

 _Urk!_

Nevermind, Weiss decided, she wasn't going to compliment her state of dress at all.

"Just come on you dunce," she huffed. "We're already late because of this."

"Okay, okay I'm going!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

The bell above the door chimed as Blake and Yang entered.

Tuksons Book Trade was usually a cosy looking place, a kind of warm welcome just by stepping in. It was no different this time, although Blake could see that there were a few boxes tucked away in the corner for some reason.

At the moment, the man himself was speaking to a customer at the counter, so the Faunus girl decided to browse a bit: there was quite a collection on the shelves even as she ventured into the more… mature section.

And then came the dreaded voice Blake had somehow forgotten.

"Oh~ I didn't know you were into that kitten."

Blake felt heat rush to her face as she spluttered a defence.

"I-it's not what it looks like!"

Really?" Yang asked with a sceptical eyebrow and shit-eating grin. "Because to me it looks like you wanna look into the porn section."

"This. Is. _Literature!_ " Blake hissed, affronted at the accusation.

"Ha! I knew you were into this sorta stuff" she shrugged, smile unchanging. "I won't judge, fun to know my partner isn't _repressed_ or anything."

"Why did I end up with you as a partner?!" The Faunus sighed, her voice either dripping dismay or sarcasm.

Yang didn't miss a beat either way. "Because I'm _awesome_!"

"Awesomely full of yourself."

"That's called confidence kitten."

"Stop with that name!"

"Ahem."

The two girls blinked at the third voice – that belonged to the owner – standing there watching them with a bemused look on his face.

Blake coughed into her fist and under her hood her ears flattened against her head.

"Tukson," she greeted. "It's good to see you again."

"You too," the big man agreed. He glanced once at the blonde. "This a friend of yours then?"

"Yes, Tukson this is Yang, she's my partner at Beacon. Yang, this is Tukson he's a friend of mine."

"Yo." The brawler greeted with a wave.

The owner smiled in return as he ushed them over to the counter.

"So you made it into Beacon then? That's good to hear, I was wondering if my favourite customer would think she had to much time on her hands not to come back."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Of course not, where else am I meant to get good reading material?"

He chuckled. "That's what I thought; speaking of which, I'm guessing you're here for the order you placed a while ago." He reached under the counter, and moments later came back with a book in hand.

"The man with four souls," he said, pushing it over the counter. "The sequel to your last order."

Blake nodded, sending him her silent thanks which she knew he would pick up on. Yang peered over her shoulder curiously.

"So? What is it you got? More of your ranchy stuff?"

"A fantasy novel actually," Blake corrected, ignoring the jab as she handed the right amount of lien over to Tukson. "It's the second book in the man with two souls series. They're great books."

"Oh," Yang said. Blake blinked in surprise as the blonde's tone changed from curious to downright disinterest.

And maybe a little bit resentful.

"Is there something wrong?"

"It's nothing," the brawler dismissed with an easy shake of her head. "I'm just not that fussed on the whole magical story type thing."

That only made Blake raise an eyebrow higher.

"I'd thought the fun-loving side of fairy tales would be something you liked Yang."

When Yang smiled again, it was a little more bitter.

"Fairy tales don't happen in real life for a reason kitten…"

Right… Blake coughed into her fist again to try and dispel the awkwardness. She shouldn't have asked, once again, she didn't know the whole story between what she assumed was trouble with Yang and her sister. It was probably best to leave it as that. She saw a good escape back at the boxes stacked against the wall.

"So Tukson," she said with only a _hint_ of desperation. "You look like your putting a few things away, stock needed to go into storage."

"Not exactly," he told her with a smile. "I'm actually planning on moving back to Vacuo."

That made the cat-girl pause.

"Really? How come?"

He looked away for a second.

"It's a number of things really… I don't know if I can-"

"Is this about White Fang stuff?" Yang interrupted.

The shop owner recoiled in shock even as Blake hissed.

" _Yang!_ You can't just ask stuff like that out loud!"

"What?" the troublesome blonde asked with a shrug. "There's nobody here to listen in, we're good."

The dark-haired girl could only sigh in annoyance.

"As you can see, Yang knows about… well, I'd call it my past if it weren't for the fact we had to deal with them recently."

"That… makes sense," Tukson allowed, glancing at the brawler suspiciously for a moment before his shoulder sagged. "Things are getting worse here Blake. With the rise of robberies and White Fang getting more active around the city…"

"You're still a part o the White Fang, aren't you?" Blake questions as she leaned on the counter eagerly. "Has there been anything going on that we should know?"

The man rolled his eyes. "You think they'd tell me? I'm not that high up on the chain of command… but… with what the high leader said yesterday."

Blake nodded in understanding.

"You saw it then?"

"Every member of the Fang did Blake," he sighed. "Honestly it probably did more harm than good. That might have been what she wanted."

"How come?" Yang asked as she rested an elbow on the wood. "Sounded to me like she was giving a message to people."

"Exactly: she giving a message to _people,_ not just humans." He elaborated when the two girls looked at him questioningly. "There's been some… I don't know what to call it – arguments – within the White Fang. That message was basically Sienna Khan letting her people know that she's still fighting for their rights."

"More like showing them she's still calling the shots." Yang hummed. The Faunus' turned to stare at her, a when she realised they were confused she went on to explain.

"It's a tactic a lot of bosses use on their muscle," She said. "When you have people below you making it difficult for each other it's a good idea to remind everybody that they answer to you. She can't exactly show through beating people up though, since the whole things supposed to be seen as some sorta revolution, so she makes an empowering speech in front of the whole world."

She tilted her head back a little.

"Basically she shows people that she's still the boss and they take order from her."

Blake stared at her teammate with shock.

"That… makes a lot of sense actually. For someone like Sienna, with her methods pointed towards violence this alines with what she might do." She gave the blonde a strange look. "How do you know about something like that?"

"What?" Yang grinned. " Don't think I'm the type to think about stuff like that?"

"I-I didn't say-"

"I'm kiddin' Blake," she waved off. "I have a friend that taught me a few tricks about it. He has a lot of muscle working for him but the guys aren't too smart."

Blake relaxed a bit, even if she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"And is the person you talking about running a legitimate business?"

" _Eh~"_

The way Yang drew out the sound didn't fill the dark-haired girl with much confidence.

"He runs a nightclub mostly, but his main job is dealin' information, underground stuff. If you want something he probably knows where it is or who has it."

Interesting, was the first thing Blake thought, just how did Yang get to know someone like that?

She might have asked had the door not opened at that moment, the bell chiming as they heard a familiar heiresses voice.

"Honestly?" she huffed. "Being late because you had to change clothes is embarrassing enough but did you have to get distracted by _everything_ shiny?"

"I wasn't getting distracted Weiss," Ruby shot back. "I just saw some cool weapons on people passing by and wanted to look!"

"You certainly had the attention span of one who is," Weiss snapped. "or did you think I didn't see how you fumbled to gawk at passers-by. I swear, the number of odd looks we got is enough embarrassment for a lifetime."

"But they're new!" Ruby exasperated as if it should have explained everything. When it didn't she went on.

"All the weaponsmiths are importing stuff for the Vytal festival. People are always looking for new weapons around this time so its when they make the most lien. With so much money being spent on it this is the season that the newest upgrades come out. How can you not be excited by all of this? I mean it's _awesome!_ "

Weiss just shook her head as she gave Ruby an annoyed look.

"You know," she said. "If you were as enthusiastic about your studies as you are with weapons I might have been impressed… instead you disappoint me."

"Gasp!"

"It doesn't work if you _say_ gasp you dolt!"

After enjoying Weiss' suffering for a moment longer Yang finally decided to intervene with a smile and a wave.

"Hey you two, havin' fun?"

The heiress scowled, but instead of answering she marched up to Blake, pointedly ignoring Yang.

"So now that we're all here what do you propose we do first?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you're in a bit of a rush Ice-Queen. What gives?"

"If we are to have a fulfilling day then we need to stick to a schedule," Weiss said, putting a hand on her hips, the other raised in a lecturing pose. "that way we can get the full value out of visiting Vale today. I have all the stores we could possibly visit mapped out and-"

She was cut off when Yang burst out laughing.

"Oh that's amazing Weissy. Got the whole thing locked down right?" she stepped up beside the heiress and through an arm around her shoulder (ignoring the way Weiss glared at the limb draped over her)

"Why don't we plan a night out together sometime? You can arrange all the best places to party at. With you payin' obviously."

Blake shook her head in bemusement, content to watch her two teammates argue back and forth. Honestly, you couldn't get entertainment like this anywhere else.

They bantered like this for a while until Yang caught Ruby at the counter.

"Excuse me," the youngest of them said to Tukson. "I'd like to purchase this please."

The Faunas male inspected the book offered to him – a thick, heavy tome of a book – and raised an eyebrow.

"Legends of Remnant huh? Not many kids you're age still read these things… are you sure you want it?"

"Yep!" she nodded happily.

Tukson watched her a second longer before relenting with a shrug and a smile.

"Far be it from me to deny a paying customer," he paused. "You are paying for this aren't you?"

"I am actually," Weiss interjected, moving next to her leader and revealing a card. "just run that through and we should be fine."

"Thank you Weiss~"

"Be quiet you dolt!"

Yang frowned. "You're not seriously interested in stuff like that, are you Rubes? You know that stuffs for little kids right?"

"So?" Ruby shrugged. "It's… something that interests me. There's nothing wrong with liking fairy tales is there?"

The brawler looked like she might say more, but thought better of it… for some reason Blake felt there might have been a stand-off otherwise.

"Okay then!" she cheered with renewed energy. "Let's go spent all Weiss' allowance."

"Hey!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby wasn't as involved in the act of shopping as her teammates might have liked.

After the bookstore however there wasn't much else she wanted in Vale. Heck, even the book she got was more so that she could help Amber with her…

She sighed inwardly.

Why was she still thinking about the Avatars?

Damn Oz, doing something like this again. It had been years ago but she'd still held him to that promise; to not endanger people just because of something they were born with.

Not like she' been with her eyes.

Even now, thinking about it brought her mother to mind…

It was… difficult.

Ruby didn't really know much about her Summer Rose.

There were memories. Hazy at best and missing at worse. There was warmth… and kindness… and other things.

Ruby had wanted to know more about her mother, so she'd asked Ozpin. Turned out that Summer had been more than a little obsessive over her own fairy tale.

It had been small things that she'd noticed at first, things that might have been passed off as coincidences in her legend.

Like the silver eyes. Yes, not much was known about them other than they seemed to be effective against magic, and the Grimm… but there was another thing.

See, in the Odyssium there weren't just single versions of myths and legends. There were originals, updated and even so-called 'modernised' interpretations.

In the original version, Dorthy had a pair of silver slippers… something that _could_ be linked to the eyes. That alone might have been enough to maybe hint to Ruby that her mother would be interested… then there was Zwei.

An amazing dog, something normal, safe. Until you realised that Summer had gotten Zwei to be more like her Origin.

And to top it all off, she names her daughter Ruby, for the same colour as Dorthy's slippers in the newer versions.

All this together would have been strange, odd enough for someone to be concerned.

But then she went on a mission.

One that Summer knew she couldn't succeed in, but because she relied so much on her legend, on her connection to Dorthy, she thought she could kill the Wicked Witch…

Ruby didn't want that for herself.

All of this, the Avatars, Magic, her own gods be damned eyes…

Sometimes Ruby wished she could just be normal.

It was affecting her even now. Here with her teammates, it was hard not to see them as their Avatars. As people whose lives were being risked by Ozpin in something they didn't even know about.

Suffice to say Ruby was deep in thought about these things. So much so that she didn't snap out of it until her sister nudged her.

"Yo, Remnant to Ruby?"

Her head whipped around. "Huh? What is it?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I said; don't you think it's a little sus that ole Ice-Queen brought us to the _docks_ when we're supposed to be shopping."

"Um… yes?" she answered uncertainty.

"You see? Ruby thinks so too! I thought it was weird that you were in a rush in this direction."

The Schnee Heiress huffed. "Don't be ridiculous! What motive would I have for leading you here!"

Blake wore a crooked smile. "Why indeed. It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the Vacuo competition for the Vytal Festival will be arriving today here by boats, is it?"

"Not at all."

"Oh that's fine then," Yang said. "Then you don't care about that one coming off the boat now?"

"Where!?"

The blonde snickered as Weiss' span around, looking for the culprit. There wasn't one, obviously, and she scowled at Yang intensely.

"Honestly Weiss, you make it too easy sometimes."

"Why you little-"

The argument was cut off before it could begin, because Blake noticed a commotion down a street to their right.

They paused and after sharing a look went to investigate.

It was definitely a scene alright. a crime scene to be exact. There were people crowded around a dust shop with its windows smashed and the insides ransacked. Two men who looked like detectives stood in front, separated from the public by the classic yellow tape of Vale's police department.

Ruby frowned and walked up to the detectives, flowed by her team.

"What happened here?"

One of the men, who had a beard, turned to look at her. He narrowed his eyes at what at first looked like a bunch of civilians being nosy until he saw their weapons. The title of Huntress probably registered rather fast after that.

"Robbery," he said with a shrug. "happened last night, second one this week actually. I'm tellin ya, this place is getting' crazy."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Blake asked.

The detective looked her way, then noticed the ears and sighed.

"Not right now, no. Honestly the only leads we got are Roman Torchwick and the White Fang."

The Faunas blinked. "Why would the White Fang rob a dust shop in downtown Vale?"

"Beats me," he responded. "But whoever it was didn't steal any lien, just dust. The White Fangs all about that stuff recently so you know, can't cross em' off the list yet."

"I see." Blake hummed, crossing her arms as she thought to herself.

The man coughed.

"Listen kid, don't get me wrong, I ain't got no hate for the Faunus, but maybe you should uh…"

He made a gesture towards the crowd, and that was when team RWBY noticed the glares that were being sent their way.

Or more specifically, Blakes way.

Looks like Sienna's message had put people more on edge than they'd thought.

She pulled up her hoodie to cover her ears.

Yang growled beside her and the dark haired girl could practically feel the icy looks Wiess sent back at them.

Ruby shook her head.

"Come on guys. No point in sticking around."

After a moment, the other two girls let it go and followed their leader back the way they'd come. Yang leaned with her back against the railing as the others did something similar, watching as people finally stepped off the boat.

"So whaddya think?" Yang asked. "Could it have been the White Fang?"

"It seems like it," Weiss said. "a group like them doesn't necessarily need lien, but raw dust might strike their fancy."

"I don't think so." Blake argued with a shake of her head. "Why would the risk an attack right in the middle of the city? Especially when there are easier places to get dust from."

The heiress raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

The ex-terrorist sighed. "When I was… involved in the White Fang we needed dust for weapons, fuel, power you name it… and we needed _a_ _lot_ of it. If the Fang needed it they sent teams to attack mines, or warehouses, even trains." She shook her head again. "But a dust shop? It's too much risk for such a small amount of dust."

"It _might_ have been Torchwick." Ruby agreed. "I mean that's how I ran into him before initiation… but there was something that made me think it was off."

Blake turned towards the younger girl. If Ruby had anything to get to the bottom of this she was eager to listen. "Yes? What is it?"

"It just thought it was weird for someone like Roman Torchwick to have a bullhead."

She blinked. That… that was strange.

Weiss ran with the train of thought.

"Someone like Torchwick is a master thief, yes, but they wouldn't have access to something like that without a backer. Or help of some kind."

"But if he _was_ working with the White Fang that day shouldn't it have been all over the news?" Yang asked.

"I don't think it belonged to White Fang," Ruby answered. She was thinking now, her fingers tapping the rails methodically. "he had guys with him but none of them were Faunus as far as I could tell… and we already know what the White Fang insignia looks like. I didn't see it anywhere that night. That might mean they weren't involved at all, right Blake?"

Blake bobbed her head slowly. "The White Fang see themselves as a force of revolution. If it was them they'd want people to know that. It… it doesn't clear them but it makes it more unlikely."

"So… perhaps a third party of some sort?" Weiss broached.

"Maybe…after our run-in with them on our last mission they might be thinking of changing things up…" Ruby trailed off.

There was a pause as they thought it through. It was concerning no matter what was the truth. With so many things going on with the White Fang and robberies in Vale it was easy to feel the tension between people.

But whatever thoughts they might have spoken aloud were cut off as people from the docks began to yell out.

Ruby squinted to see to security guards chasing after someone: he was blond, tanned and had the tail of a monkey.

And it looked like he was a-

"Stop that no good stowaway!"

Yeah that.

Monkey boy seemed to take offence to that as he sat perched atop a lamppost.

"Hey! I'm not a no good stowaway! I'm an unsatisfied, non-paying customer!"

Ruby heard Blake slap a hand against her face before she saw it. Yep, this guy really wouldn't help with the tension in Vale.

Whatever the case the two detectives from before approached him, their faces set in scowls.

"Hey punk! Get done from there right now."

The answer he got was a banana to the face.

The Faunus boy just laughed as he leapt over their heads and onto the street, heading straight for team RWBY, who were caught so unaware that he ran right past them.

But not before winking at Blake.

The girl blinked as he put distance between them.

Yang was much the same. "Did he just…?"

"I think he did." Ruby agreed. "I think that's the competition you were talking about Weiss."

"After him!" the heiress cried.

Not having to be told twice the four girls followed suit of the detectives, bobbing and weaving through the surprised crowds of people. Annoyingly it was slowing them down.

The blond culprit didn't seem to have the same problem. In fact the people parted before him. Blake scowled to herself. No doubt they thought him some sort of dangerous criminal with the police on his tail.

"… "

Yang was already infecting her.

Eventually the Faunus boy turned a corner, and Weiss sped up to catch him. Probably taking this whole thing as some sort of challenge.

She whipped around the corner.

And slammed straight into a passerby, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

The others stopped.

"Wiess are you okay?" Ruby asked.

The Schnee girl gave a groan as her response.

Blake sighed. "Well we lost them now. Hopefully those police can keep up, but I doubt it."

Again Weiss groaned as she rubbed her head. "Ugh, what hit me?"

Yang coughed into her fist.

"Um… Wiess? I think you should look down."

She did.

And realised she was mere inches away from a smiling girl's face.

"Gah!"

Weiss fell back in shock, fumbling as she grasped for her bearings. The girl still did nothing, seemingly content to lay there on the pavement. Ruby got a good look at her.

She looked their age –well, the rest of her team age anyway – with light red hair, close to Nora's hair colour if anything and was dressed in black green and grey.

Well… at least she was coordinated.

She waved from her spot. Still on the ground.

"Salutations my fellow inhabitants!"

"Um… hello?"Weiss tried. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going and knocked into… are… are you going to get up?"

The girl blinked again. "Yes I am!"

She did so a second later, easily springing to her feet and brushing herself off like nothing happened. She looked at them and seemed to perk up.

"Oh! This is exciting! Ahem," she made a noise of clearing her throat. "Salutations. I am Penny. A huntress-in-training at Atlas academy."

"Atlas?" Weiss echoed, suddenly more interested. "You're here for the tournament then?"

The girl who called herself Penny nodded. "That is correct. I am here to test myself against the combatants of the other schools."

"Wait, so where's the rest of your team?" Yang asked.

"Oh, I'm here alone right now," she said. "I wished to explore Vale."

"Okay," Ruby tried. "Well, its good to hear you're interested in the city. Oh! Right, we forgot to introduce ourselves, My name is Ru-"

"Ruby Rose," Penny interrupted. "Age fifteen, accepted into beacon two years earlier on the personal decision of Headmaster Ozpin."

Team RWBY as a collective blinked as Yang frowned. "How do you-"

"It is documented in Atlas Academy's databases so that we can learn more about our opponents before battle" she quickly explained.

The blonde looked towards her snow-haired teammate for answers.

Weiss just shrugged.

"It seems reasonable. From what I know Atlas has a very militarised method of teaching. Gathering information _would_ be a part of that."

She didn't sound completely sure.

Penny nodded. Indeed it is. However I know this more on the basis that I study under General Ironwood. I have actually been hoping to meet about-"

In a flash Ruby was in front of the girl with a hand over her mouth and a fake smile on her face. She turned to her teammates, who from their angle couldn't see the way she was practically smothering the Atlas student.

"Well I think as the leader of team RWBY I should make it my job to help her back to wherever she's staying. Why don't you three go on ahead?"

Yang looked confused. "Wait, you want us to leave you with her? While we go through Vale without you?"

Ruby shrugged, a little stiffly. "Yeah why not, I'll meet you back at the dorms if it takes to long."

Blake hummed as she looked at her scroll. "It's already getting late as it is. Are you sure you don't want one of us to come with you?"

"Uh, hello? Super awesome huntress here? I'll be fine. Besides, you gotta keep up with Weiss' schedule right?"

The heiress rolled her eyes. "Very well, if you are sure then we will go. I expect you however to be back before eight."

"Wait why do I have a curfew now?"

"Because if you don't you'd get into trouble."

"Gasp!"

"Seriously stop that already!" Weiss scowled.

"Nope!"

Yang snickered even as she lead Ruby's partner and her own away.

The reaper kept her smile up a little longer, until they were out of sight before spinning around to confront the girl.

" _Who are you?"_ she hissed. Her smile was gone and eyes steely. There was no time for friendliness now, she was in battle mode now.

"I am Penny." The girl said again, looking completely unfazed by her change in demeanour.

Ruby looked up and down the street, before pulling the girl into a side alley to speak privately.

"Don't play games with me, I know for a fact that Ironwood has been told not to have my name anywhere for people to see for secrecy. So either he's gone against specific orders from Oz or you're lying to me."

Penny didn't look like she was offended by the accusation in the slightest. "I did not lie," she told the silver-eyes warrior. "It _is_ stored in the Atlas databases, just a far more private one for Ironwoods innermost trusted."

Ruby blinked, stepping back to reevaluate the cheerful girl in front of her. "And… you're one of his trusted? Then, how much do you know?"

"Yes, that would be important information. I believe we should conduct our greetings again." She stuck out her hand. "Salutations, I am Penny, a member of Ironwood personal circle. I have heard a lot about you from the General Miss Ruby Rose."

"Ah! Well," Ruby coughed, scratching the back of her head. This was a little awkward, she'd maybe assumed things before the girl could explain herself.

"Thanks, I guess. Although I haven't really met General Ironwood in person before; just over the scroll. So… you know about the… what Ozpin does?"

"I do. I was informed by the General that you are a member of Headmaster Ozpin's secret circle, and that you are his right eye."

"Yeah, that checks out." Ruby relaxed a little more. So I guess Ironwoods coming for the Vytal festival then?"

"Indeed he his. I decided that I would explore the city as much as I could before he arrived. However I also wanted to speak to you about something."

Ruby smiled. "Well fire away friend. If you want to know anything about the city I think I can help."

There it was, Ruby thought, a good way to get back on track and a way of apologising for being so forceful before. Just a few words, it was simple… but Ruby really should have seen something coming when she spoke them, because when she'd finished speaking Penny had frozen up.

And then suddenly she was right in Ruby's face.

"Do you mean that!? Are we really friends!?"

"Uh… what?"

Oh no.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss' mouth was set in a frown as she walked down the streets with her two remaining teammates. She was… in thought to say the least. The heiress was presented with a peculiar puzzle.

That being her partner.

Every moment she spent with Ruby was just one oddity after another.

In almost every instance the girl was strange, or just some level of odd. Firstly, she'd somehow been accepted into Beacon early, with no prior record in any combat school across Remnant. Weiss knew enough now by seeing Ruby fight that she _was_ skilled. Definatlyabove the level of most other Huntresses in training, but that only lead to the second wonder.

For some reason, somehow, the Headmaster had known of Ruby before, and offered her a place at Beacon. The most prestigious school in Vale, and the oldest Huntsman School in the world had offered Ruby a place.

With her questionable history before Beacon, the suspicion Weiss felt towards her leader wasn't unfounded.

However, Weiss might have been able to excuse all that, to push it all aside and see Ruby as she was – a huntress in training just like her – if it weren't for how she acted.

If the Schnee Heiress thought Ruby's circumstances were odd, then it had nothing on her action.

Ruby was… well, she was many things: Loud, bubbly, bouncy if Weiss was to give a visual description. She was also so conflictingly full of energy and shy at the same time. Not to mention that even for her age Ruby acted especially childish when the mood struck her sometimes.

But that was the keyword wasn't it?

 _Sometimes_.

Weiss had ignored it the first time, during initiation she'd just assumed that Ruby forwent her at-the-time usual lightheartedness to lead them in a desperate situation. And it _was_ desperate, with Grimm surrounding them like a sea of black Weiss could only marvel how the youngest of them had kept her cool enough as to give them orders.

The first time… she wrote it off as just that. A desperate situation.

And… yet the more time the girl spent with her partner the more she noticed just how quickly Ruby's personality could shift.

No… not shift… change completely.

In an instant Ruby would go from that loud and cheery girl to adopting a steely calm.

It was… definitely one of the strangest things about her:

The way she became so mature and focused in an instant that it was jarring to witness. That wasn't even accounting her mannerisms.

Weiss had been raised by a businessman, with a promise of working in business and even managing one of the largest businesses in the entire world. As such she'd been schooled at an early age how to read someone's mannerisms when they spoke to you.

You couldn't identify everything, obviously. It wasn't like some kind of movie where the business genius could control an entire conversation by reading the other person, but with enough practice you could memorise their tells, what faces they made when they were angry, or pleased or something else.

She'd managed to do that for her teammates too.

Although thinking about it, it wasn't that difficult a task. Yang was an easy one, she expressed her self in a way that made sure that everyone knew how she was feeling. When she was mad her eyes went red and her hair glowed, when she was happy she wore that big, stupid grin and while Weiss had never seen the girl show any truly tear-jerking emotions she assumed they would be just as clear.

Surprisingly Blake was much the same, not in how she acted per say – she would probably never poses that intensity that her partner had - but her tells were easy to recognise all the same to Weiss. Perhaps it was because of her Faunus ears but anyone who bothered to look could see how they perked up when she was interested or flatten against her head when she viewed something negatively. It was honestly cute in its own way, but Weiss would never tell her that for sake of her own sanity.

Ruby would have been easy: the little huntress smiled when she was happy, pouted when she was annoyed and whined when she was sad. All simple things on the surface. When looking deeper Weiss could tell what her partner was feeling by the way her mouth curled up, or how much she stared at things that required her attention. In a way easily understood Ruby acted like a typical teenager with shyness mixed in. honestly it was endearing to Weiss.

But then she switched.

And then all at once none of that was there.

It was in the morgue back in Grainsal that she first noticed it.

Weiss suppressed a shiver even thinking about it.

Back then… it hadn't been full on. Weiss had been horrified at the state of the bodies, feeling sick and scared and like it was the most gruesome thing she'd ever seen.

It had been. But Ruby hadn't acted like it had affected her. Ojay, no, that wasn't right. She had, her eyes had given her sympathy, a look that said she felt the same way but was controlling it. at the time it had been the only thing keeping her from throwing up.

But as she thought about it later, Weiss couldn't help but think how it might have been slightly… put on.

Not in the way that Ruby had lied to her, not as in not being the slightest bit of disgust for what they'd seen.

However it felt as if she _had_ been a lot less disturbed by it than she had let on. That sat with Weiss strangely for some reason.

Then there had been their raid on that warehouse.

Ruby – a fifteen-year-old girl – had been willing to kill someone. Terrorist or no that wasn't something Weiss could even comprehend for someone their age.

There was more, every now and then there was an off-handed comment that Weiss didn't even think the girl realised she was saying. Somethings that threw Weiss off completely; her cynicism, dark humour, level tone. All things that shouldn't… wouldn't be associated with the red reaper at any other time and yet were.

She let out a sigh and massaged her temple.

Thinking about the mystery that was her partner gave her a headache at the best of times. Now though…

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave Ruby with a stranger?"

"Hm?" Yang question, not quite listening as she interlocked her hands behind her head. "Nah I think she'll be fine."

Weiss frowned. "Really? I didn't think you of all people would let your sister lead a complete stranger round the city. Especially someone as… odd as that girl."

The blonde shrugged. "Eh… you might have been right any other time but I'm not too worried. Did you see her? Penny I mean? There wasn't a single piece of muscle on her body. Dunno how she's supposed to fight in the tournament but she isn't gonna overpower Ruby anytime soon. Besides, not much I could do since my sis was the one who offered to do it. Probably would have caused some kinda scene if I argued with her."

Alright, she had to allow that at least. Weiss didn't even know why she was worried; Penny had said she was from Atlas, so she had to be at least somewhat trustworthy.

"You're right. I'm sure she's completely safe."

* * *

…

…

* * *

This was not safe.

This was stupid, this was such a stupid idea that Ruby wasn't convinced that even if nothing went wrong her uncle wouldn't call her out on just how stupid this was.

What was she even doing?

Well, she was crouched on a rooftop at the docks, during the night, overlooking dozens of dust containers alongside Penny.

It had been an off-topic conversation honestly:

After Penny had convinced herself that Ruby wanted to be her best friend she'd chattered on and on about different things they could do together. Like shopping, painting their nails talking about boys… Ruby was thankful Weiss had been her teammate.

From the looks of it she'd gotten one of the more sane huntresses-in-training that came out of Atlas.

Anyway, eventually Ruby had tried to move the conversation onto something else, and Penny took that opportunity to explain that she'd actually come into town to investigate a lead on the White Fang.

Turned out there'd been hints of a large-scale theft of dust that had been rescheduled for tonight.

The reaper knew exactly why it had been mentioned as 'rescheduled'.

Their mission had disrupted White Fang operations so close to the capital. They must have spooked them, or at least done enough damage that whoever was in charge decided it was better to speed things up a bit.

Troubling… it had only been a few days so whoever it was, was well informed. That, or they were working close to Vale.

Still, when Penny had talked her into joining her on this she didn't think they'd be squatting on a rooftop waiting for them to show up.

There was too much waiting.

She looked over at the other girl, who was lying next to her with a smile on her face. She wasn't moving though. IIIn fact she was as still as a statue.

It didn't even look like she was breathing.

On the other hand Ruby hated things like this. The waiting. It made her uneasy. The longer you waited for an enemy to arrive the more chance there was that the whole thing was a trap. She'd learned that from experience, or maybe that was just her Uncle Qrows bad luck.

Fortunately for her, it looked like the absence of her feathered uncle meant she was having good luck, because at that moment several bullheads flew into view.

She didn't get to count them all because the opened up quickly, and White Fang poured out.

Ruby grit her teeth.

She couldn't count that fast, but there were definitely more than a hundred of them. Too many for two huntresses of their level to take on without backup.

But that wasn't even the problem; what was the problem was the man dressed in a fine white coat and bowler hat.

Roman Torchwick.

That didn't make any sense though. Ruby bit her lip in thought.

Why on Remnant was a thief working with a terrorist organisation?

The answer wasn't coming to her., but she at least knew now that this was out of their league.

Penny seemed to agree.

"Friend Ruby," she whispered. "I believe that the best course of action would be to retreat."

"Yeah," she nodded. "We can call for some help or something when we get clear. Know what the best way out is?"

"No, but we need to be careful, thermals are picking up dozens of signatures all around us."

Thermals? What was she talking about? Ruby was about to ask when Penny suddenly sprang to her feet.

"Rub look ou-"

She didn't get any further, or if she did Ruby didn't hear her as she was met with a crushing blow to her back. With a gasp she was forced to the ground. Her face hit the concrete, with only her reflexes putting up her aura on time.

The weight didn't leave her back, and when Ruby turned her head she saw Penny was on the ground too, stunned by what looked like an electric whip. Suddenly before her eyes a person appeared out of the night.

No, not appearing, she' already been there. It was like her skin had changed colour.

She wore a leather black, sleeveless jacket and shorts, meaning that for some reason she was different from the other White Fang. When she turned her head a little more to the side Ruby managed to see the person standing on her.

The first thing she saw was the wings: big, bat-like things that spread out from his back. He wore the same outfit as the other one, with the slight difference being the higher collar and sleeves.

When he spoke his voice was deep and smooth.

"It looks like w have two humans sneaking around. That's not good," he pressed his foot harder into the arch of her back, and she had to bit back on a pained wheeze. "you should know it's rude to spy on people."

"What should we do with them Yuma? Kill them?" the girl asked, _her_ voice was hard, filled with disgust as she glared down at them with red eyes. Hadn't they been grey just a second ago?

The man chuckled. "Calm yourself sister Ilia. The human Torchwick is leading this operation. For now we must follow orders and deliver these two to him to decide. Sister Trifa, if you would."

" _Oh,"_ she blinked. _"There's another one. This one's got blue hair."_

That was all Ruby could think of before a foot collided with her face.

And Ruby fell into black.

...

* * *

 **Well I'm back with another chapter, a little slower than I'd like but what are you going to do? the holidays are coming one and there's always things to do. Thankfully I was able to get this out _before_ Christmas for you all.**

 **What did you think? Characters being introduced left and right this chapter and we're almost finished with Volume on, thank goodness for that. and whats this? Ilia's here? You'll find out why soon but get ready for a fight.**

 **By the way, this chapter was just about a thousand words more than the last one. is this a good length? If it is let me know and I'll try to keep it up.**

 **Anyway, if you liked it be sure to follow and favourite, and if you want to share your thought be sure to Review, I always like hearing what people think.**

 **I'll sign off for now.**

 **Bye!**


	14. Nice to meet you? Part 3

**Alright so a longer chapter today. This one I was a bit hesitate to get out until I had everything mapped out properly but I'll expalain at the end.**

 **Other than that I realise that longer chapters are more fun to write, so maybe I'll try to keep eleven or even ten tousand words as a standard or goal.**

 **I'd ask that if you want to, point out any mistakes I make in the chapter and I'll work to fix them.**

 **I have something Important I want to announce at the end too, so... stick around for it if you want I suppose.**

 **Anyway, I'll talk more at the end.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

...

Roman considered himself a professional. A master thief capable of taking anything he wanted with the right preparation.

He'd been in the game a long time. He'd worked with common thugs, crime syndicates, even a few goody-two-shoes that were just in desperate need of money. Hell, he'd even worked with people as scary as his current employer before, even if it was for different reasons.

A certain group he'd never fallen in with however were terrorists.

And now he was beginning to see why.

"What do you mean you don't like the smell of the containers? It's a damn metal box!"

The masked idiot in front of him shrugged as if it wasn't a problem. Torchwick didn't even know his name – nor would he bother to learn it – but he already disliked the guy.

The other idiot beside him answered instead of him.

"There's some scented candles in one of the boxes. He's a canine Faunus so it hurts his nose to go near it."

The thief didn't look impressed. "And why are you telling _me_ this huh? Why on Remnant would I care?"

He broke off with a sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Yeah, he didn't like working with terrorists because they just recruited whoever they could. Looked like the ones in Vale were a particular breed of stupid.

There was a shuffle to his left and he pointed his cane threateningly in the general direction without facing them.

"Don't you start laughing at this! Give me some back-up Neo!"

The multi-coloured girl rolled her eyes and made no move to help. Roman growled and turned back to the to Faunus.

"You know what? Fine, don't go near the crates, get someone else to do it and go join the lookouts instead, use that nose of yours to smell people coming."

They didn't so much as nod as they turned to leave, but when they did he scowled. That was another thing; they had no respect. Since he was human, all of these blasted animals treated the fact that they had to work together like it was some form of oppression. Didn't they already have one to deal with without making this partnership difficult.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar, lighting it up and taking a puff to calm his nerves, or temper, whichever was closer to giving first.

"You enjoy this don't you?" he asked his partner. She was still smiling too, the little punk. Neo was always like this: laughing at his misfortune wherever they went. She could be the source of most of his problems too with her cruel sense of humour. Sometimes Roman thought about just whacking her over the head with his cane a few times to instil some kind of discipline in her.

He didn't though.

And one of the main reasons for that _definitely_ wasn't because she would impale him on a lamp post if he did.

True to form she smirked at his displease with the White Fang. She wasn't happy with this either though, Roman could tell.

While he was frustrated, she was bored.

There were only three things Neo enjoyed: Bloody violence, ice cream, and annoying him. In that order.

Right now, she was only getting to do one of those things.

"I don't know what you want me to do," he said to her. "This whole thing was a mess right from the start with them. Just our luck that we had to get dragged into it."

The girl made a motion with her hand as if to play a tiny violin. Right, no sympathy from her then.

Thankfully he didn't need it, nor would he have time to get it as another Faunus came up to him. This one was even weirder than the last one, with a black outfit and blue veins that crawled up her body.

Ugh!

"Torchwick," she grunted ever so charismatically. "We have a problem, two in fact. Intruders."

He took another puff of his cigar and took it out with a raised eyebrow. "Really now. Well at least you came to me, looks like some of you can follow orders. Lead the way sider girl."  
she sent a glare his way for that, but as stated already did what she was told, leading him (and by extension Neo) into one of the back rooms of the warehouse.

There were two people strapped into chairs. One the thief didn't recognise but the other…

"Oh boy."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby groaned as her consciousness returned.

Her eyes creaked open painfully, and she was greeted with the sight of a familiar thief sitting lax across from her.

"Hey there little red," he waved "I don't think you should be here, isn't it already past your bedtime?"

She didn't reply, instead taking in her surroundings. There wasn't much she could see from where she was; tied to a wooden chair with… was this webbing?

She struggled against it, testing out its strength. It didn't so much as budge a little.

Right, well that wasn't going to help now was it?

The room itself didn't offer many answers either:

It was small, about the size of a bedroom for one but without the homey feel. Actually, after a proper look it was more like a storage closet; with shelves and crates pushed against the walls. One crate in particular to her right was the seat of another girl:

Her hair two different colours of pink and brown, and eyes the same, but inverted. Although probably the weirdest thing about her to Ruby was the way she smiled when she caught her attention.

Way too many teeth to be friendly.

Ruby flinched as a pair of fingers snapped in front of her face, bringing her back into the situation.

"Hey red, you listening to me?"

She blinked. "Uh, what? Could you repeat that?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Don't space out here kid. I asked what you're doing here."

"Oh uh, dunno, just thought I'd go for a casual stroll around Vale, nothing to it."

Roman wasn't buying it. "Really? You just happened to be here at the docks the moments the White Fang appears to rob it?"

"Yep!"

He sighed in annoyance.

"Listen kid, I can tell that you're here on some huntress stuff. Right? You want to arrest me and turn me in? well sorry but that isn't going to happen. You're a first year, like, what, seventeen?"

"Fifteen actually."

"…what?"

"I'm fifteen," Ruby said. "I got moved ahead two years."

Of to the side, the scary looking girl snickered.

Roman scowled "You're kidding me. You have to be kidding me. I know I called you little red but this is ridiculous! What are the Huntsman schools doing!"

"Does it matter Torchwick?"

Both Reaper and Theif turned towards the new voice. It was the girl from before, Ilia. Her face was set in a snarl as she glared at Ruby.

"Why are you talking to her?" she spat. "She's already a threat to this operation."

Despite the venom in her voice Roman didn't look fazed as he leaned back further in his chair.

"What? You worried you're White Fang boys can't handle it out there? Shouldn't you be back on lookout anyway? This isn't any of your business."

"Like hell it isn't!" the Faunus growled. "We make an exception for you Torchwick, but the White Fang doesn't entertain humans. She should already be dead, so if you don't do it, I will."

With that Ilia reached for her weapon, prepared to point it right at Ruby's face.

She never got it out of her holster however, because Roman made a motion with his hand and in the next second the terrorist felt thin blade prick the underside of her chin.

Neo grinned up at her menacingly.

"Look girly, you need to remember that right now I'm your boss," the master thief drawled. "So when I say that you should leave this talk to the humans, it means you should go. Capiche?

She didn't move for a second, glaring at Torchwick with hatred in her eyes.

Eventually however, she did cave in, and with a final snarl turned and left. Neo waved cheerily to her as she left, as if she hadn't just threatened the Faunus' life.

"Yikes," Ruby said. "I know I'm supposed to be the prisoner and everything but uh… what's that all about?"

Roman shrugged. "Eh, just the White Fang Zealots being their usual selves. You have no idea how bitchy they are about working with me."

"Why _are_ they working with you?"

"Ah, ah, ah," she wagged a finger in chastisement. "This isn't like some movie where you get the villain to reveal their plans."

"it was worth a shot."

The thief laughed at that. It died down a second later and he sighed. "What am I going to do with you red?"

Ruby blinked. "You're… not going to kill me?"

He rolled his eyes, casually lighting another cigar as he leaned back into his chair again, looking up at the ceiling.

"Course not kid. These idiots might think killing you is a good idea but I'm not a part of their little group. Killing you would just bring me unwanted heat. Not to mention that I have standards. Killing children isn't my style."

There was a motion from the multicoloured girl.

"Yeah it's not Neo's style either. Don't get me wrong she loves violence but uh… you just in her below the bar of people she's fine with killing by… how many years?"

Neo thought for a second, before raising two fingers.

"Two years? Well, there you go. You're too young for us to kill, and I'm sure as hell not stupid enough to hand you over to the White Fang." She might have imagined it, but Ruby was sure she saw Roman shiver. "Killing you would probably be the kindest thing they do to you."

Yeah, she could imagine. If the White Fang despised humans as much as they claimed in vale then torture might be the first thing they tried.

Ruby's eyes widened.

"Wait! I came here with someone else, is Penny alright?"

"You mean the redhead? Yeah she's fine. She woke up before you and started prattling on about how we should turn ourselves in. I mean, I put her in a cell for her own safety as well as ours but you know."

Roman hesitated, actually looking like he was considering whether he should say it or not. While he did, Neo moved to sit on a chair, probably to move to where this little girl could see her. Say what you wanted about the murderous psychopath she had a soft spot for kids.

Or was that just short people in general.

"You know… that kid's pretty weird."

Ruby's gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Yeah… well, I only met her today but Penny's a bit… forward."

"More like socially dead. I'm tellin' ya, I talked to her for five minutes and I could tell there's something off about her."

He took another drag of his cigar. Honestly it Ruby didn't think it was a bad smell. Strong, but not bad. When he'd finished he went on.

"Anyway, getting rid of her when she's so… whatever she is, leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so the kid's in the same boat as you red."

"Okay," she said, nodding slowly. "I think I get it now… I know what you two are."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?" he already knew what was coming. It always did eventually; people always accused him of being a monster, lowlife-scum or any other insult they could come up with for his life's work. Shame, he'd actually started to enjoy talking to the kid. Ah well, at least he could-

"You both good people."

"…"

Eh?

"Eh?"

Neo fell out of her chair.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Back at Beacon, the remainder of team RWBY sat in their dorm room.

Weiss tapped her foot impatiently. She checked the time on her scroll. She looked out the window to see the moon high in the sky.

The heiress scowled. She marched to the door, opening it to stick her head out and looking both ways. The hallway was empty.

Her scowl grew. She slammed the door behind her as she turned to Blake and a pacing Yang.

"Well?" she hissed.

The Faunus girl shook her head.

"Nothing, she's not answering her scroll. I don't know whats going on." She glanced at it again. "She might have turned it off but…"

Weiss huffed. This was less than ideal to say the least. It had been hours now, way past the time Ruby was expected to return at and they'd heard nothing from her. Considering they'd last seen her with that odd girl they had… a few ideas on what happened, none of them good.

What was worse, was the longer they waited, the angrier Yang got, and Weiss could feel the heat radiating from the blonde, so much so that she'd had to open a window.

To be honest, she was worried Yang might cook them alive if things didn't resolve themselves soon.

"Alright," she tried. "We know that Ruby's strong, we shouldn't worry about her wellbeing for now and instead focus on where she could be. Have team JNPR heard from her?"

Blake shook her head. "No, I asked Ren and he said Ruby hadn't called them. He let me know that they'd keep an eye out and let us know if things changed but right now we have nothing."

The Faunus sighed. "Right now Ruby could be anywhere. I wouldn't be worried, but she _did_ tell us that she'd catch up… and I don't think she's the kind to let people worry about her."

At this point, Yang had had enough, a growl forming in the back of her throat as she turned to them with red eyes.

"Then why are we waitin' around? We're wasting time when we should be looking for her." She made to move towards the door, but glared at Weiss as she blocked the raging brawler.

"What are you doing Weiss? Hurry up and get outta my way."

"Just calm down for a minute Xiao-Long," The heiress tried, holding up her hands in a placating manner. "We don't even know where to start. If you start tearing Vale to pieces looking for Ruby that might cause more problems than it would solve."

Yang wasn't as impressed with Weiss' argument as she probably would have hoped for.

"What do you want me to do then Ice-Queen? Just wait around for something to happen? Or do you think we should just forget about it altogether?"

It was the Weiss' turn to scowl again. "Of course not, all I'm suggesting is that we wait until we have some idea as to where to look. What if Ruby tries to get in touch with us somehow and can't because we're not here?"

"She's right Yang," Blake said, coming to her snow-haired teammate's aid and resting a hand on her partner's shoulder. (They could tell how uncomfortable it made her, whether from the heat or just the fact that she wasn't a very touchy person). "Why don't we wait just a little longer? If we don't hear anything in another, say ten minutes, then we go looking for your sister. Okay?"

Yang held her gaze for a while longer, red boring into gold to see who would give first. Eventually red looked away.

"Fine," she spat out. "just a little longer though, then you can't stop me."

"Thank you." Blake said gently.

There was a lull where they three of them looked between each other, all in at least somewhat reluctant agreement and yet unsure of what to do. So, it was almost comical when a fourth voice joined in from the open window.

"Hey I could help!"

They yelped and span towards the window, and when they saw who it was Weiss gasped.

"You! You're that ruffian from the docks! What on earth are you doing here and- why are you upside down?"

The newcomer waved his hands in front of him in a sudden panic as they looked like they might attack.

"Woah,woah, woah, hang on a second will ya? I'll explain if you let me."

"Then do it already," Weiss hissed. "And get in here if you're going to speak."

The Faunus boy did as he was told, righting himself the proper way and sitting perched on the window frame.

"Okay, look, the names Sun. I'm from Haven, came here for the tournament. I got a boat but it turns out they didn't like Faunus so I had to hide in case they threw me off, so, when I got to the port they found me and I had to run and you know, the cops chased me and I was all like, jumping and climbing until I got away and-"

He didn't get any further in his ramblings as Yang went up and grabbed his open first.

"Hey monkey boy, stop wastin' our time and get to the point. What do you want?"

He grimaced before nodding rapidly. "Right, well, while I was in Vale I say the other girl from your team, the one with the red cape heading for the docks with this other girl, you know, the docks where they deliver shipments and cargo?"

Weiss frowned. "But why on Remnant would Ruby go there? And even if she did why isn't she back yet?"

"Cause I heard that – when I was hiding on the ship - that there's a huge shipment of dust being delivered, and I same some guys in masks dropping out of bullheads and-"

"Wait, wait go back," Yang growled. "What do you mean you saw people in masks? How? Where you following my sister?"

Sun seemed to suddenly realise he needed to choose his words carefully.

"Well, yes? I mean, not in a bad way, but she looked like she knew where she was going and I was gonna ask her for directions since I already sorta met her when I was running but then she goes to the docks and I follow behind her a way back and then she's waiting there for ages and I think there's no point since she's not going anywhere when suddenly these guys in white masks show up."

From Sun's word vomit they managed to get a few key things. None of them good.

"The White Fang," Blake hissed. "they're at the docks? Here in Vale? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I lost sight of the girl, Ruby, for a sec and then there's a commotion and she's gone and the White Fang are going crazy."

"They captured her?" Weiss asked, Yang flaming up at the thought.

"I think so, there weren't any gunshots so I think they brought her into one of the warehouses. There were too many for me by my self so I came here to tell you."

Weiss ran a hand over her face. "Fine, if we forget the question of how you knew where to find us we suddenly have a situation where Ruby's been captured by the White Fang."

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Yang asked, making her way to the door again. "Get your weapons and let's go already. You, monkey boy, I don't how you found us but you're coming too."

"A-alright sure."

"Let's go people!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

"I still don't know how you get 'good person' outta all of what I just said red." Roman said. He'd been arguing with his 'prisoner' for the last ten minutes and he still hadn't gotten through to her. "There was, several valid long-term reasons I gave you and you just say we're good people. I mean, you must be crazy if you call Neo a good person."

Rather than be offended the murderous ice cream girl nodded her head.

"No, listen," Ruby tried again. "I'm just saying that yeah you might have reasons _not_ to kill me but you have plenty to aswell. I mean, I am a huntress-in-training. I know I'm not at your level but I could still be a problem later down the line if you don't get rid of me now."

Roman looked at her like she was crazy. "What are you trying to do Red? Convince me to off you?"

"Nope, because now that I know you're a good person I don't have to worry."

He raised an eyebrow. "I think you're missing the whole robbery and murder respectively from my partner and I."

"Well yeah, okay that's bad," she allowed. "but that's not what I mean by a good person. To me it means that you have a chance to make things easier for yourself, or that you might even enjoy doing something horrible – in this case killing me – and you decide not to. I think that sort of choice makes you a good person no matter what the reason."

Roman and Neo shared another look, and whatever was spoken silently between them must have been strange, since the thieves face morphed into one of shock before he started to chuckle.

I was short lived when his scroll let off a buzz and when he looked down at it he scowled. When he did look back at Ruby it was actually with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry kiddo, I've got to take this. Neo will keep you company while I deal with the adults."

"Hey wait a minute," Ruby cried. "What's going to happen to me anyway?"

"Oh… I don't know, we might just leave you here overnight. The ship workers will find you tomorrow and you can tell them the embarrassing story of how you were captured."

He waved. "See ya kid!"

Ruby out of a childish urge stuck out her tongue in response. She heard him laugh aloud before the door shut behind him.

And then there were only two people in the room.

Right, well, for Ruby at least this was a problem. Yes, they were her captors so technically she shouldn't feel awkward about not talking to them, but her being the socially inept person she was it was a difficult situation.

Especially since the other girl was giving her a look that was part ways amused and part ways horrifically terrifying.

Or… not girl. Ruby had to correct herself when she saw Neo's chest.

 _It was an accident of course, she didn't MEAN to stare at her chest. Honest!_

Anyway, as she – ahem – observed her captor it was easy to see that despite her height Neo was filled in in all the right ways. With her outfit being a black corset it showed off a generous amount of skin regarding her hips, and the white jacket dipping low enough to expose her cleavage.

Dangerous.

That was how Ruby would describe this Neo person in one word.

Not to mention how she-

"Eep!"

Ruby paled. Neo had caught her looking, and was giving her a very scary smile. She stood up.

Uh-oh. Ruby hadn't been able to get much from the woman, other than the fact that she'd outright claimed that both criminals were good people she didn't know how they would react when pushed. Judging by the teeth Neo was showing it wasn't going to be good.

What she wasn't ready for was Neo shattering into shards of glass. Her first realisation was that Neo had just used her semblance. The second was that it was some kind of teleportation, which in itself was incredible!

The third realisation Ruby had wasn't as nice because…

Neo had reappeared.

On her lap.

With a bowl of ice cream.

But on her lap.

Ruby mad a valiant effort in trying to speak, but all that came out was an airy squeak.

She probably should have realised that was a sign of weakness, because when she did the criminal's grin grew even wider. Purposefully Neo made a show of taking a scoop of ice cream. The younger girls made noting hysterically that it was strawberry flavoured.

Before she was fed the treat.

Ruby's brain suffered a complete shutdown. She actually froze completely as her mind tried to process what had just happened. It wasn't very successful, because she didn't – or couldn't – react as Neo took the spoon, scooped more ice cream up and, instead of feeding it to Ruby again, ate it herself.

Ah, now the Huntress was able to find the suitable reaction.

Mainly her face heating up like a thousand suns.

"W-w-what are you doing?"

Neo stopped, looking up at her with an innocent expression.

 _Lies!_

Ruby realised. All of it deceit and lies. The ice cream, girl seemed to understand that Ruby wasn't falling for it but instead of looking guilty she smirked and-

Spooned another mouthful into Ruby… with the same spoon she'd just used.

Ruby suffered a second aneurysm.

A few minutes later Roman could be heard opening the door.

"Okay kiddo I'm ba- what is this?!" he stomped. The master thief was met with the sight of his partner straddling their caprice, a bowl of half-eaten ice cream between them and a devious smile on the law-breakers face.

Then there was the kid, who face was as red as her hood, a far of look in her eyes. Haunting. Broken. She looked like she was boiling, and she was panting heavily.

"Help me!" she rasped. "She's been like this for the last ten minutes. She won't even tell me why."

Roman's head fell into one hand as he sighed.

"She's torturing you kid. Just because Neo won't kill you doesn't mean she wouldn't find some way to get a laugh. I just didn't think it would happen so fast."

"What do you mean? I don't even know how this count's as torture!"

He rolled his eyes and took his seat. He didn't bother telling Neo to get off the poor girl. He knew she'd just do something even worse.

"You can't tell? Appart from the fact that you look like you're being boiled from the inside, you're a teenager. The problem with teenagers, _especially_ one like you coming into yourself is that you're all just roaming balls of hormones."

The truth dawned on Ruby the moment he said it. she looked at Neo on her lap. Her neck turned the same colour as her cheeks. She looked back at him.

"I changed my mind." She said. "She's bad. She's a very, very bad person."

Far from being angered by the statement Neo snickered, and sent her victim a wink as she finally got up.

The thief shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that was the point she was trying to make."

The noise Ruby made said all it needed about what she thought of it.

"Relax, will you? She wasn't serious about it."

She glowered, clearly not pleased with the whole series of events made to embarrass her. "Well I might believe you if she actually said something."

He scoffed. "Well then sorry Red but you'll just have to stay in disbelief. Neo doesn't talk."

She blinked.

"Eh?"

"Neo," Roman said again, pointing to his partner, who had pulled up a proper chair of her own now. "She doesn't talk… hasn't ever said a word to me or anyone else. Completely mute."

Now, the master thief had been In a few situations like this before, where him and Neo had to interact with hostages and the like when a heist went bad. (Not very often mind you, else he would be considered a master). Anyway, most of the time it went in the direction where they found out Neo was a mute and had a few different reactions.

One; they would quieten down, embarrassed that they didn't realise Neo's little disability sooner. Normally that was good since it gave him some peace and quiet. Two; they would get aggressive, thinking that it would be a good idea to insult the murderous girl. That was always fun to watch, although Roman didn't peg little Red as being that sort of person. The third was probably the stupidest: the hostage would try to bargain with them, thinking that just because Neo was mute that she had some kind of bleeding heart. He didn't know where the hell they drew the connection but he'd seen it more than once, which was annoying in itself.

So of course Red had to do none of the above and instead do something that confused them both into just staring at her.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" she cried, bowing her head as low as she could with the bondings. "I didn't even realise. Oh my gosh I'm such an idiot." She was groaning now. "Ugh! I can't even talk to strangers without messing up!".

He couldn't help it, Roman had to laugh.

This kid. She was either the most innocent girl he'd ever met, or the most socially awkward. Oh he hoped it was the latter, that would make it so much funnier.

After his laughter died down a few minutes later and he'd had his fill of Ruby chastising herself he sighed mirthfully.

"Don't worry about it kid, you're not the first one to make that mistake. Hell there are so many stories I could go on all day."

Ruby looked up at him with was looked like a form of desperate hope, the kind where a child was caught doing something they shouldn't but then realised their sibling had done something worse. Damn she was good at that.

"Really?" she asked. "How much worse than me can you get?"

Torchwick grinned, pushing his bowler cap higher onto his head.

"Well why don't I tell you about the time me and Neo hit up town Vale during the holidays?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

"This is the place." Sun told them as they crouched low. They were using shipping containers on the outer region as cover. Sun had warned them that the bullheads might spot them if they moved in from above. It meant they hadn't been spotted yet, which was a plus in Blakes book.

The problem was that it worked both ways. She couldn't see anything from where she was and that was a problem. Her being a feline Faunus she was the only one out of the four of them with night-vision. If that couldn't be utilised then they could be at a disadvantage.

"I didn't get to count them before I left." Sun went on. "I don't know what we're up against."

Blake watched the blond boy carefully from behind. She didn't know what to think of him… whether he was trustworthy or not was something she wasn't willing to test.

She was a Faunus, like him and she'd been a part of the White Fang. Who's to say he isn't either? He could be leading them right into a trap.

She reached behind her back and griped Gambol Shroud for comfort.

If he was a part of the White Fang… then she wouldn't let him hurt her team.

She clenched her eyes shut and shook those thoughts free. Now was no time to panic about things like that, they needed to stay calm, find Ruby and get out.

Her partner did seem to have the same idea.

"Why the hell are we waiting around so long?" she growled dangerously from beside Weiss. Her voice was low and dangerous only emphasises by the red taking over her eyes. "We should be going already!"

"Just hang on a minute Xiao-Long," The Heiress scowled. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Yang's anger. They'd gone into Vale still in their casual outfits from earlier, and for Weiss in particular that meant she was in a pretty uncomfortable position. That also meant that with the added stress of her own partner in danger meant she was less than tolerable.

"If you go in now blundering like you always do you'll get us killed. Use your head for once."

Yang snarled. "My _sister_ is being held hostage and you want me to wait around? They could be doing anything to her."

"Don't be an idiot," Weiss snapped back. "I'm just as worried as you but if we rush in we could be in even bigger trouble."

The only male nodded. "Right, yeah, that sounds like a smart idea. We could sneak in and out without being them all down on us. I don't know about you three but I don't feel like taking on that many terrorists."

The brawler didn't like impressed by Suns opinion.

"We can take them. They're just grunts."

"That's not the point," Blake argued, finally chiming in. AS much as she herself wanted to find Ruby too she knew that it was a bad idea to go in unprepared as they were.

"Listen Yang; if we just talk a second to think things through we can come up with a plan. Just have a little bit of patience and we'll find your sister. Just trust me on that."

Yang looked between them, her eyes still read but at least looking like she was considering it.

She looked back at the warehouse most of the White Fang were gathered around.

She sighed, and Blake allowed herself to relax a little bit. Weiss did too. At least now they could-

"Fuck that."

Before either of them could move to stop her, Yang had deployed her weapons and blurred forward in a blast. She went straight over the containers, and out of their line of sight.

There was a moment of disbelief as Blake stared at her remaining two companions.

Sun looked between them.

"Is she always like this?"

To be honest, Blake thought that was a fair question. She never got to answer it however because suddenly there was a cry and the sound of several people yelling… and gunfire. Plenty of gunfire.

Weiss' eye twitched as she reached for Myrtenaster.

"When this is over I'm going to kill her."

Blake didn't feel like she could defend her partner over this one.

The three of them ran to join Yang and when they turned the corner got to take in the unfolding carnage as it happened:

Yang was already surrounded by a few dozen White Fang, Ember Celica deployed and blasting through them like they were nothing. The blonde fell into a boxer stance, dodging and weaving past their blades dangerously and lashing out with shotgun-powered jabs. The few blows that the grunts managed to land glanced off her aura. It barely flickered.

Blake instantly realised that these weren't proper White Fang. They were greenhorns, barely initiated and sent on a heist. This was the second time she was faced with this truth. Who was in charge of the White Fang sector here in Vale? Adam would have never allowed his men to go out so weak.

The thought of the revolutionary force she'd fought with willfully sending out these novices made her stomach churn.

The worse part was that they were still a problem. Even as Blake ran forward she could see that the hits were piling up. They might not have been doing much, but every strike was a chip in Yangs reserves.

What was the saying? Quantity had a quality of its own?

Well that was certainly proving to be at least somewhat effective as Yang was forced to duck away from a three-pronged sword strike to the face.

They'd closed the distance however, and without hesitation Blake dashed through slashed at their legs as she moved, in and out like a shadow with Gambol Shroud. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Weiss and Sun join her; the Heiress striking with precision and grace as she danced through their clumsy attack. Her face was set in cold concentration as she blocked and parried, firing off blasts of dust when she could to create distance and segregate individual opponents.

Suns was by contrast a far more direct combatant. He ran in with a yell and his own weapon was brought out, a gold-encrusted wooden staff. It was clearly more than that Blake could tell though when he twirled it in his had and bashed one end against a grunts head. The masked enemy fell back with a yelp of pain.

He wasn't done, using his staff as a pole vault he threw himself over a crowd of grunts- being sure to step on a few as he went – and landed beside Yang. he knocked away a few that tried to sneak up on his female counterpart.

"You know, you're crazy right?" Sun laughed. It was more of a statement than a question.

Yang barked what was either a scoff or a laugh.

"Just make sure you can keep up monkey boy and we'll be sweet."

He grinned despite the situation they were in with over two dozen more White Fang moving to surround them.

"Yes ma'am!"

With that they both leapt back into the fight and Blake turned back to her own fight in time to duck a bullet.

She deflected several more that came at her in a barrage, and moved to join her partner. They would need back up and from the looks of it they weren't exactly making a dent in the White Fangs numbers just yet.

Blake's bright eyes roamed over the crowd of white-masked grunts. There might have been a hundred of them, maybe closer to two hundred.

She caught a sword and pushed it side, rewarding the attacker with a kick to the gut.

Why were there so many anyway? This didn't look like anything special. It was a simple robbery on a dock that was expected to be empty. There was no way they would need-

Blake's eyes widened as she twirled past another two, smashed the back of her blade against their heads and watching their bodies crumple.

Their mission.

It had been in a place the White Fang hadn't expected Huntsmen of any kind. They'd not only ruined their operation there but revealed that a former White Fang member had joined the Huntsman academy.

Team RWBY had seen it as a win when they ran away and that that wouldn't have to deal with them for a while.

But the White Fang hadn't run.

They'd adapted.

These numbers were to compensate for them and what they'd done.

And now it was coming back to bite them.

She finally broke through the crowd, managing to regroup with Yang and Sun the same time as Weiss landed beside her. They were surrounded, but together.

Blake readied Gambol Shroud. They were outnumbered but things didn't look impossible yet. If they were careful Blake though they could still get out of this okay.

"Traitor!"

At least that was what she had thought before a familiar voice cut through the noise, and Blake gasped at the all too recognisable light of a whip lashed out at her. She barely got the sheath of her weapon u to block the point before it hit but when she did it made her stumble back. She bumped into Yang, who turned to look.

The rest of the White Fang had stopped too, and made a path as three figures were revealed.

Blake forgot to breathe.

Ilia glared hatefully at her and through gritted teeth she snarled.

"How dare you," she hissed. "How dare you think you have the right to even show your face to hear, let alone attack us. To think the White Fang had been distracted enough to let someone like you escape."

Blake might have taken a step back if her own blonde partner hadn't taken a step _forward_.

"You didn't tell me you have friends here Blake," she smiled with false sweetness. Her eyes were still red, and it made her look even angrier. "Why don't you introduce yourself punk?"

Ilia sneered at Yang like she was a dirty stain and ignored her as she glared again at Blake.

"Even now you manage to disgrace the Faunus even more with these people! A human, and what's worse a Schnee! You really are the worst of scum."

"I…" Blake gasped.

Yang had seemed to have enough, pulling her fists back and allowing the sound of her gauntlets priming wretch up the tension.

"Alright, as much fun as it is hearing you bitch at my partner, I'm not in the mood for this shit. Get outta my way. Now."

Rather than look frightened the one with the blue hair smirked and levelled her dagger at them. "I'd like to see what you sound like when I put you in the ground. Why don't we find out?"

Yang made to move forward but before she could a wall of ice sprouted from the ground in front of her, as well as encircling them completely.

Yang turned back to glare at Weiss but the heiress met it with her own.

She turned to the Faunus girl.

"Blake, you know these people don't you?"

"I-I do. They were my teammates a while back when I was still working my way up in the White Fang."

Weiss nodded. "What can you tell me about them? Are they dangerous? What are their abilities?"

Blake searched through her head for useful information she could share.

"They're strong. Easily on par with me. Yuma is the one with the wings. He specialises in aerial combat. Trifa deals with ranged enemies with her webs. Ilia has near-perfect camouflage. They were the ones you sent in to get things done. They… by military standards they'd be black ops."

Weiss let out a hiss at that, and the ice wall began to crack as the sound of dust rounds crashing into it could be heard. She looked around at the three of them and steeled herself.

"As Ruby's partner I'm second in command." She turned to the brawler. "I expect you to listen to me Xiao-Long."

The blonde scoffed but apart from that didn't argue.

Weiss inhaled. "Right. Xiao Long I want you to take on the one with the wings. If he can fly then you're rapid movements might give you the edge. I'll deal with the spider. If I get in close I should be able to negate her advantage."

She turned to Blake

"Can your eyes pick out someone like this Ilia girl."

"Maybe," Blake hedged. "I'm not sure but I'd still have the best chance out of all of us."

"The I need to to take her on. Can you do it?"

Blake took a breath and shut her eyes for a moment. When she looked back at Weiss it was with determination in her golden eyes.

The heiress took that as a yes.

"As for you," she said, turning to the male of their group. "I'm not sure of your skills, but you're in as much danger as any of us. Can you deal with the White Fang grunts?"

Sun grinned and slammed his staff down. "There's a lot of them, but I'll give it a swing."

The ice made a noise like glass about to shatter.

Yang primed her gauntlets and Weiss formed a glyph under her feet. Blake gave a nod to both of them to be careful.

And then the ice went down.

And the battle began for real.

Even as Weiss dashed past Blake was moving, leaping to the right to separate herself from a wall of bodies blocking her. She fired some shots at Ilia to catch her attention.

It worked. And as Ilia blocked them with her whip she glared at Blake.

She fired again, and the chameleon Faunus snarled as she charged at her.

Blake's eyes widened when Ilia threw her arms forward. She flipped _over_ Blakes' head and launched a kick at her side.

The ex-Fang managed to bring her forearm up to block the blow but it still pushed her back. Gambol Shroud was raised to stop Ilia's whip from slamming down on her head, and the lightning infused weapon made sparks as it slid off.

Blake winced at the hit. Even if it didn't damage her aura Ilia's weapon wasn't conventional: yes, it was a whip, which was odd enough by itself, but when it retracted into its more solid form it was she wielded it like a club, bringing down heavy hits that Blake either had to dodge or feel her body shake from the hits.

"Ilia stop this!" she tried. "You don't need to do this."

The chameleon Faunus didn't even acknowledge her, ducking down to slip under Blakes guard and the huntress-in-training let out a cry of pain as Ilia smashed her boot into Blake's shin.

She let out a cat-like hiss.

It was happening again; like when she fought Weiss she was on the defensive because of uncertainty.

Her eyes fell on the people behind her, Weiss and Yang who were fighting their own opponents.

The heiress was being matched in her speed, Trifa keeping her at bay and off balance with both her dagger and webbing.

While Yang shot through the air like a meteor, burning bright as she propelled herself through the air and threw curses as she chased Yuma.

She looked back at her own fight.

Now wasn't the time to be uncertain.

Blake slashed forward with her katana, forcing Ilia to block while at the same time bitting into the girl's side with the cleaver.

Ilia growled in pain as her aura flared and she stumbled back. Blake followed. left, right, left, right.

Again and again she slashed and cut with the dual blades of Gambol Shroud, forcing her old friend on the defensive and without a second to recover.

Ilia's eyes turned red with anger and she pulled the trigger on her whip. It lit up and Blake cursed as she felt the shock run up her sword and shake her arm.

It was her turn to move back but the White Fang operative didn't follow. Instead she leapt back to the shipping containers.

Blake grit her teeth past the stinging and followed again. She couldn't give Ilia the range or she'd be in trouble.

She ran in to swing and nearly stumbled when Ilia practically disappeared.

When she looked again she was alone and surrounded by a dozen different coloured metal crates.

Oh, she saw it now. The colours against the night would mess up her night vision. With the different colour shifts.

Gambol Shroud shifted into is ranged form, and she held it close to her chest, eyes scanning the walls for any movement.

Her Faunus ears twitched as Ilia's voice cut through, marred by anger.

"Is this what you are now Blake," Ilia spat from her unknown location. "A coward who spits on everything the Faunas have suffered through by fighting with a Schnee? I didn't think you would do it. I didn't think every Belladonna was too weak to change things."

"You don't know what you're doing Ilia," Blacks voice echoed back, still on the lookout for the girl. "The White Fang are killing people. We didn't sign up for that. We wanted peace."

There was a pause.

"Like the Faunus you killed to get out of the White Fang?"

Blake had no response but to grip Gambol Shroud tighter. Ilia scoffed.

"You're right about one thing, but wrong about the other… the White Fang is killing people. And that _is_ what I signed up for… because that's the only way for true peace for the Faunas."

Blake shook her head. "You're wrong Ilia. Please, give me a chance to let you see it."

There was the feeling of a person's warm breath on her neck.

"No."

Blake whipped around just in time to knock away a strike to her head, and hop over a sweeping kick. She made to counter-attack but chocked on air when something crashed into her gut.

She stumbled, and another hit she couldn't see bruised her neck and she felt her awn aura flare. When it hit the third time she managed to see what was happening.

Ilia was rapidly changing the colour of her forearms so that they blended into the background, becoming practically invisible right before she hit Blake.

When did she get this good?

When did Ilia learn to do something like that with her body.

Straining her eyes Blake managed to block the firth punch and catch the fifth. She shoved the girl back and prepared for the six. Ilia wasn't about to fall into a pattern. When she moved next Blake struck high and Ilia went low. The huntress braced for a hit to her legs but instead was met with the chameleon girl right in her face.

A solid punch right to her face. Blake fell. Or at least would have if an uppercut didn't lift her off her feet. She landed back on them only to feel an elbow crack at the side of her head. Blindly, Blake tried a desperate counter and missed. The chameleon stepped into her guard again and raised her fist.

Ilia opened her the palm of her fist and Blake only had a second to realise the containers surrounding them had the logo of the Schnee Dust company before she was blasted point blank with fire dust.

Blake was sent rocketing back, over the containers and landing ungracefully on the concrete. Seconds later Weiss and Yang landed beside her, with the latter growling as they tried to force themselves back up.

Sun called out to them even as he fought his way through White Fang grunts. And then…

"Well, well look who the cat dragged in."

Roman Torchwick entered the battle.

* * *

…

…

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier._

"And when we finally managed to get out of the plaza we had a naked police officer shooting at us as we bolted down the street." Roman finished, letting an amused grin overtake his face as he retold some of his misadventures when he'd been far less experienced.

"Ruby couldn't help it she laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Seriously," she asked once she'd managed to catch a breath. "So, did you manage to steal the woman's pearls."

"Oh yeah," he replied. "That, and so much lien that our pockets were overflowing. Neo was happy too, at least in the way that she completely embarrassed the poor guy."

Red smiled back at him. "Sounds like it. You know that sounds like the plot to a Saturday morning cartoon… without the fistfight in the casino."

"Aw but that's the best part~" he chuckled. "Well, it was pretty much a miracle we managed to get out of that with as much money as we did. The media span it as some daring escapade with a dangerous shootout when really it was just the two of us with no clue how to work together." He said, jerking a thumb over to the ice cream girl, who, was busy enjoying said ice cream. She raised her spoon in acknowledgement though.

Roman shook his head with mirth. "It might have been our… fifth, maybe sixth job together. I'm telling you kid, back then Neo was a nightmare."

She made a gesture that could have been interpreted as something rude but just made him laugh again.

Little Red laughed along with him.

"Yeah but from the sounds of it your robberies got like, super crazy after that. I bet it was _so_ cool seeing all of that!"

Neo preened a little off to the side, and he had to admit he did too, before he realised what was happening.

Damn it he was starting to like this kid.

That wasn't probably a bad idea since she was a training to be a huntress. They kinda had a record of trying to put him behind bars.

But hell if she wasn't fun to talk too.

Even Neo seemed to genuinely like her.

Neo!

This was going to be a problem later down the line, he just knew it.

He was taken out of his internal grouching however when the sound of gunshots echoed from outside, as well as the yells of the White Fang.

Red looked just as confused as he'd expected but he sighed, already knowing what was going on. When the kid asked him though he answered.

"Look's like you've got people here to collect you. That's going to be fun." He turned to his partner. "Hey Neo, how much dust have we got already?"

She made a sideways hand gesture as if to say ' _eh… it's fifty-fifty'_

That was good enough for the master thief.

"Right then, go get the bullhead and get ready to leave." He turned to his captive and tipped his bowler hat. "Well Red looks like I need to keep your friends busy for a while. Hopefully we _don't_ see each other again but if I can guess I'd say you'll get in trouble again."

He waved his can and walked out the closet door.

Ruby turned to Neo, who gave her one last wink before shattering into pieces of glass.

She was alone now.

He looked down at the webs holding her again. They'd gotten weaker from her constant shifting now. Not enough to pull free of easily but…

Ruby concentrated, vibrating her body with her speed semblance carefully and pushed against the webs.

A strand gave way, then another. She pushed harder and tried to stretch her arms.

Slowly, annoyingly slow, she managed to make enough room to slip an arm up and over the bindings. With it she managed to get a good hold of the webs and pull them over her head.

She stumbled off the chair abut steadied herself before she could fall.

There wasn't much time to waste. Ruby marched over to the door and braced her legs as she slammed a boot nearly through it and it swung open.

Roman hadn't looked it, good.

Now to find Penny.

Activating her speed semblance again she sprinted through the warehouse to where she could already hear fighting. Was help already this far in?

Ruby passed the threshold of one of the rooms when a White Fang grunt was thrown against the wall beside her.

The reaper blinked at the sight of three White Fang member knocked unconscious on the floor as Penny help a four one by the neck. The cell behind her looked like Penny had torn off the bars.

The girl looked her way and smiled, dropping the now limp fourth member.

"Hello friend Ruby! Did you hear the commotion outside?"

"Uh, yeah," she answered, on the back foot a little at just how Penny could act so normal with her current surroundings. "I came to rescue you but… it looks like you've got that under control."

Penny perked up at that.

"You came to rescue me? Oh that is splendid! You must think of me as a great friend!"

What?

"Um… sure?" was her hesitant response. She shook her head. "Anyway we need to get out of here. People are here to help us but they're out there fighting the White Fang then they could need our help."

"Do not worry Ruby," Penny saluted. "I am combat ready!"

"You might be," Ruby winced. "but I don't have my scythe on me. It must be somewhere else in the are warehouse but we don't have time to look for it."

"Worry not friend. You can borrow one of mine." She said, offering Ruby a sword she was sure hadn't been there a second ago. Ruby blinked.

"Thank you." She said.

Pennu modded. "Come then, we must help the others."

With that they ran through the halls. Ruby tested the weight of Penny's spare blade as they ran. It was light but study. Ruby wasn't an expert on sword fighting, but Uncle Qrow had hammered in the basics a long time ago.

She would get to test them too, because at that moment the turned the corner the came to face with half a dozen armed White Fang, who caught sight of them almost immediately.

Neither of them needed a signal to attack, and Ruby barrelled forward in a flurry of rose petals as dust rouns ricochet around her. In the enclosed space Ruby was able to guess where the bullets would be fired from and deflect or dodge them as best she could.

A second later she barreled into the first Faunus, bashing his skull with the back of her blade and leaping to the side directly in front of another.

He wielded a sword too, and Ruby struck out with a hurried stab. It was blocked, so was the second and third but it gave Ruby the moment she needed to barrel into the terrorist and knock him off his feet. They didn't need to beat these guys, just make an opening to escape.

Penny by the looks of it was doing well with both options, and Ruby marvelled as the girl danced around attacks with a whirlwind of matching blades. She wasn't holding onto any of them but the seemed to follow her every command, spinning and slashing at anyone brave or stupid enough to come near, and send them flying.

"This way friend!" she called. "I can see the exit from her."

Ruby did as she was told and followed the girl and as they stepped out she winced. The light forcing her to close her eyes for a moment.

Wait.

It was still night, there shouldn't have been enough light for something like that.

And there wasn't… not naturally anyway.

Ruby looked up to see Bullheads with the White Fang insignia hovering above, shining spotlights down at them.

When the reaper looked back down she stilled, as did Penny beside her.

Her team lay defeated on the ground and surrounded by White Fang on all sides. Torchwick stood there with a frown on his face. His coat was dirted, signalling that he'd been fighting but he'd clearly come out on top. Yang, Weiss, Blake and some stranger were being restrained by the same three Faunus who had knocked Ruby out earlier.

This was bad, and it got worse when Roman noticed her, along with the rest.

He pulled his hat down further and muttered a curse even as the White Fang aimed their rifles at the two remaining girls.

Penny's blades formed in front of them and span. Ruby tensed, whether they'd be able to protect them for an entire barrage wasn't something she wanted to test out.

"This just goes from bad to worse," Roman sighed. "Look kid, how about we-"

"Enough!" one of them waved away with a snarl, who if Ruby had heard right from before was called Ilia.

The huntresses-in-training tensed. They could already tell by the tone of her voice that this wasn't going to end peacefully. This was bad, and Ruby wasn't sure they could take on so many people at once.

"You were supposed to deal with her earlier Torchwick and you failed. I don't know if it's your competence were should trust or your loyalty but stay out of our way. We'll kill them all."

Another voice chimed in.

"You can try, but I'll stop you right there."

And then the White Fang were hit by a hurricane.

Ruby nearly fell as the docks were hit by gale force winds. Some of the grunts were thrown screaming into the sea and the Bullhead above rocked dangerously.

It stopped as suddenly as it came but the damage was done, White Fang scattered all over the grounds and groggily getting to their feet, while Ruby's team was left completely untouched, but looking around in confusion.

"What the hell is it now?" Torchwick groaned and his question was answered when the familiar figure of a scared girl dressed in hazel and gold appeared.

"Amber!" Ruby cried out.

The half-fall-maiden smiled in her direction but kept her eyes firmly on the master thief and Faunus dressed in black. When she spoke again it was with an air of confidence.

"I'll ask you once: leave now. If you do not I will be forced to fight you and I _will_ take you out. Beacon is on its way also, so I wouldn't recommend it." She extended her left hand. "But if you still want to fight then I will oblige." She warned, her scarred left eye wreathed in flames.

Roman recoiled as if seeing something familiar before paling.

"You know what," he said. "I think I'll take you up on that deal, we have enough of what we came for anyway." He shot a warning glare at the Faunus. "Unless you think you can fight Beacon?"

Ilia growled but didn't respond and the thief took that as a concession. With some sort of willpower he managed a cocky smirk.

"Well ladies and gents I think it's time for this handsome thief to bid you all farewell." He bowed, and in a shattering of glass and a billow of some from the White Fang as the flying transport shot away, they were gone.

All of a sudden the docks were quiet and Amber lowered her hand with a relieved sigh.

She looked over at Ruby, then to her team before looking back again.

"You've got some explaining to do."

* * *

…

…

* * *

A few minutes later Beacon arrived with paramedics in tow. They checked the members of team RWBY and Sun for injuries before referring them to Professor Goodwitch.

Who wasn't all too pleased with them.

"You all put yourselves in unnecessary danger tonight," she berated them sternly. The girls looked down at their feet, even Yang, whose rage had been quelled minutes ago, now left only exhausted there was nothing they could say in their defence.

She continued. "You all disregard your own safety as well as the safety of Miss Rose. You should have warned the members of staff instead of risking your lives fighting terrorists and a thief with huntsman training. You are all fortunate that Miss Autumn showed up, else you could very well have died."

She turned and glared at Ruby.

"You Miss Rose will come with me, I have even more words for you."

Ruby swallowed and followed the scowling professors lead until they were far enough out of hearing range.

Goodwitch crossed her arms.

"You took a risk today you lady."

The younger girl looked away.

"I know. I'm sorry Miss Goodwitch, it wasn't supposed to be like that. It was meant to be a scouting mission but…" She gestured weakly to the air. "I messed up."

The older woman took a long look at the girls sorrowful look and sighed.

"We can be thankful at least that the worst didn't happen. Miss Polendina informed me of what happened as well as her own position I will bring her to the headmaster for a talk." She gave Ruby a meaningful look. "I will say it again, if it wasn't for Miss Autumn noticing your teams leaving the campus then we would not have been able to prevent a tragedy."

Another sigh.

"You will be punished for your recklessness, all of you, with detentions."

Ruby nodded as her shoulder slumped. "I understand Miss Goodwitch."

"Good." She nodded, before a small smirk formed on her face, that if a stranger saw they might mistake for a leer.

"This does however present an opportunity for you Miss Rose."

Ruby looked up. "What do you mean."

"Well it is obvious that something affected your judgment to go off on such a dangerous endeavour without necessity. It gives me all the reason I need to make sure I can rectify this by helping you with your decision making while simultaneously breaking that vice that Qrow allowed you to fall into. "

Ruby didn't like where this was going. "H-how?"

Glynda Goodwitch smiled benevolently at her student.

"By banning your use of alcohol. From now on. Permanently."

Oh.

Ruby felt something in her break.

Today had not been the fun day she'd been expecting.

* * *

…

…

* * *

 **And I'm done with This chapter, AND Volume 1. I'll be honest this volume in the show was my least favourite from a story standpoint. I still liked it, it was fun, the fights were great and the humour was there but it had enough inconsistencies to make me want to pull my hair out. One of the proles was Blakes character, which went from disliking Weiss, to cheering her on and being as lively as Yang and Ruby in early episodes of their team being formed to going back to disliking Weiss.**

 **That's not even mentioning how Weiss forgave her in such a short period of time. I tried to make that timeframe more realistic by giving Weiss a reason to trust blake in the form of their first mission. It was also there to help develop more of Team JNPR...**

 **And skip the jaundice arc, which we will not talk about.**

 **Cardin, of course, will still be a character. in fact he'll be much more of a character than just a generic bully IN A SCHOOL FULL OF NEAR ADULT FIGHTERS TRAINING TO DEFEND THE WORLD.**

 **Honestly the school-yard bully stuff was just ridiculous.**

 **There's more of course, that you will see soon; more secrecy, more magic more fight and a few surprises. If you want to stick around then be sure to follow and favourite, as well as review to tell me what you thought of this chapter, and this arc. Was there things I could have done better? Something you didn't understand? Let me know.**

 **And now... I come to perhaps the more awkward part of this note.**

 **I'm writing my own book. One with Magic, secret societies, action and hopefully a lot of laughs. RIght now it's in the beginning stages but it is being worked on behind the scene.**

 **This of course take a lot of time and resources, at least to create a platform to create and get the beginnings of the book noticed.**

 **So... I started page. Which, talking about it makes me cringe because I don't want to come off as someone just asking for your money and you obviously don't have to... so I'll leave it up to you of course, if you'd like to help out you can visit my page and donate. I'd be so thankful if you did.**

 **Bye!**

 **p a treon . com (slash)** **WSpectre**


	15. Cover Story: Part 1

**So I'm putting this out of a different day, normally I try for Fridays but I want to test out what day people decide is a good day to read RWBY fiction? I guess we'll see.**

 **Anyway. this chapter's here for a number of reasons, but the major one is to bring in a little more magic into this it's at least a good enough taste of what's to come and if you like it be sure to let me know.**

* * *

...

Ruby gave a content sigh to herself as she got out of bed. Normally, Ruby like mornings, she felt fresh and rested after sleeping. That was good too, it was something she'd never really gotten to enjoy out in the wildlands with her Uncle but when she did it was definitely a treat.

Ruby always looked forward to staying in a tavern or inn and just laughing along with Uncle Qrow when he met old friends along the road, and then to settle into a comfy bed later in the night

She wouldn't even get to enjoy the times she'd been slipped a drink by a few of them anyone. Truly, Goodwitch didn't live up to the first half of her name.

No, it didn't matter. Even that couldn't ruin mornings.

She scratched her head and looked around. The sun hadn't actually risen, but it was still warm. The kind of heat that prickled her skin but wasn't so bad that she couldn't leave the warmth of her sheets.

The sun was just spilling threw their half-drawn curtains, and Ruby could see the light cast a line of yellow across the floor.

Now, Ruby usually woke up this early, and she'd gotten used to seeing her teammates wake up one by one:

The first out of the three of them was usually Blake, and the two of them would share a nod as to not wake up their respective partners. It was always funny in its own way seeing the Faunas wake up; Her eyes would twitch once, twice, a third and a forth faster and she rubbed her tired eyes. She'd stretch in a way that Ruby would never admit out loud reminded her of a cat.

It that usually the biggest sign of her tiredness, just like the rest of the time, Blake was pretty reserved and managed to school herself – maybe from her life as a terrorist – into being alert after just a few minutes. She'd be composed, and usually didn't need to do much to make herself look presentable for the rest of the day.

The next was Weiss. Ruby could tell that the Heiress hadn't exactly gotten used to the life of Beacon just yet. She wakes up groggily and cranky most days, with that half-asleep look children would give when they hadn't slept enough the previous night.

It was always a challenge for Ruby not to giggle at Weiss' unkempt and messy hair, which she'd remarked jokingly once wasn't very Schnee like.

Weiss had made their next study lesson particularly brutal for it.

Despite that if her waking up process was long then her getting ready one was an eternity:

Weiss was a girl of refinement, making sure that she was practically perfect in her presentation. She'd spend half an hour in the shower every morning, then another half an hour brushing her hair, before spending another hour on making sure she was presentable and fully awake.

Ruby wasn't sure if it was because she'd lived in the woods for most of her life but she couldn't imagine doing all that every day. Blake couldn't either from the knowing looks she sent a confused Ruby but Weiss kept up the routine as she had for the time she'd lived in the dorms with them.

Last was Yang, and by last Ruby really did mean last. She usually woke up about the time Weiss was finished with her hair, and would haphazardly make her way to the bathroom with lidded eyes and wild hair.

She'd spend ten minutes groaning in the bathroom and making noises through the door. Her morning was usually filled with lazy curses and it was clear even to Ruby that Yang wasn't used to living with people, or minding her personal space around them.

In many ways Yang was… a mess.

S-she would never say that out loud of course. Ruby was… she wasn't blind to how things were between them. It was awkward at the worst of times and painfully tense at the worse. It was like… Ruby knew that she should be working in some way to repair her relationship with Yang, her _sister_ but despite the promise they'd made to each other to start over it was harder than it seemed.

Which was why Ruby wasn't sure what to do when she looked over her bed – drawn by the sound of quiet grunting – and saw Yang, dressed in workout clothes doing push-ups on the floor.

For a minute Ruby just stared, unsure what to do. Should she pretend to be asleep? Ignore yang and get ready herself? No, that would be stupid, she'd be noticed and be asked why she tried to sneak around.

As silly as it made her feel the reaper steeled herself and peeked over the bed again. She made sure to keep her voice low.

"Hey, Yang?"

Her sister didn't jump, or if she did it was disguised with another push-up as she turned her head to look at her sister sideways.

"Oh! Hey sis," she greeted, a look of surprise on her face as she spoke in a similar volume, aware of their sleeping teammates. "What are you doing up so early?"

Ruby's lips twitched upwards. "That's my line. I'm usually up this early."

Yang raised as an eyebrow. "Really? You're up at six am every morning? That's uh…"

Ruby smiled a bit wider. "You didn't think I'd be a morning person, did you?"

The brawler shrugged, not feeling bad about being caught out. "Yeah maybe, just didn't think you could with how late you go to bed."

"Well," she chuckled. "Guess I'm just full of energy."

They fell into silence again, and not a comfortable on as Yang continued her exercises.

"So…" Ruby tried. "What _are_ you doing up so early?"

Yang hesitated for a moment as she decided whether or not to share what was going on in her head.. Eventually…

"I messed up," She admitted. "At the docks the other day I went in without thinking and nearly got us all killed. I thought I could handle whatever I was charging into and almost got Weiss, Blake and that Sun guy killed."

Ruby bit her bottom lip. "That's wasn't your fault Yang, those guys weren't what you were expect-"

"Doesn't matter though, does it?" Yang interrupted. "The fact is that I thought I was strong enough to deal with it and if it wasn't for that Amber girl we'd be dead. We didn't get by because of some plan one of us thought up or some trick we tried. It was luck, complete luck we lived and it was my fault… Weiss and Blake were mad at me last night. I could tell."

She sighed. "So I gotta make things better. I need to be stronger. I need to think things through more. Guess the whole waking up early thing is my idea of starting over as lame as it sounds. It's a hell of a lot different than what I was doing before Beacon."

Ruby looked away. "Before Beacon…." She stared at the wall. "Hey... Yang? How were you living before Beacon?"

Her sister blinked, but didn't question it as she went on to explain.

"I… moved to Vale about a year ago… maybe a little longer. Got an apartment in downtown Vale. Though maybe it was my chance to be independent you know?"

Ruby tilted her head. "How did you get buy? Did you get a job?"

She laughed. "Yeah, not at first. At the start I was kind of stupid, went around spending the money I had on drink and… well, other stuff that I shouldn't have. Eventually I got in the mood to look for a fight after a bad day. Wandered into a Club and smashed the place up."

Ruby gasped, but didn't butt in as Yang went on.

"I tore the place apart, fought the owner's men, and two of his bodyguards. Beat the hell out of them and nearly punched his lights out too. Broke down while I was holding him in my hands. Now that think about it he must have been pretty confused when I started crying into his shirt."

"What happened after that?"

"I'm not actually sure. I remember it clearly but I don't know why he didn't just kick me out of the club or have me arrested. I wouldn't have resisted if he did. Instead he drags me to my feet and tells me that I'm going to be paying off the damages to his place. Junior hires me as a damn bouncer and the next day introduces me to the two bodyguards I'd just pummeled. Melanie and Militia were bitchy to me at first, well actually they're still bitchy to me, but I guess they're my friends. I got to know most of his other guys too and I worked for him up until I came to Beacon. He didn't actually get me to pay off on the crap I broke either, said that the insurance companies paid for it all."

She shook her head. "The whole time he kept me off the streets and from doing any more bad stuff. He acted like I was a pain in the ass the whole time, but I know he was happy for me when I got accepted into Beacon officially."

Ruby… wasn't sure what she could say to that. That hadn't been the story she had been expecting. She… she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting but not that.

What was she supposed to respond with now?

"That…" she tried. "It sounds to be like you pulled yourself out of a bad place. You… you didn't have to tell me all that… thank you, Yang."

She shrugged again and after a few more push-ups she stopped leaning against Blake's bed. She was all sweaty now, and the smell would probably wake Blake up if she moved any closer.

"What about you?" Yang asked. "How were you living before you came to Beacon."

Ruby hesitated. "I…" She trailed off, unsure what to say.

When it was clear she didn't know what to say Yang scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking away with barely restrained frustration. "It doesn't matter," She said. "All I know is that apparently Miss Goodwitch knew you were _drinking."_

Ruby laughed nervously. Yeah, maybe it hadn't been kind of the headmistress to expose her like that in front of her team. She guessed it didn't matter now. Even if she could have hidden it from Goodwitch she didn't think she could hide alcohol from her whole team.

Yang didn't seem as amused and she sighed.

"Whatever."

She made to get up and Ruby felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. It wasn't fair on her sister, she'd gotten Yang to open up to her and then she'd completely shut her down. There must be something she could do. If she didn't she might make things worse with how unbalanced they'd be with this.

"How about this?" She tried desperately. Yang paused and turned back to her, curious as to what she was being offered.

"H-how about on the weekend we get all our friends in Beacon together and we… we could play video games, watch movies and I-I dunno, we could ask stuff a-about everyone?"

Ruby cursed herself for how much she was stuttering now. What was so hard about this?

Yang didn't turn away though, in fact she looked interested.

"What kind of stuff?" She asked.

Wait, she was actually considering it?

"M-maybe like, stuff we like? O-our favourite food, u-um movies we like o-or i-if you want y-you could ask me about… about what I've been doing these-"

"Okay." She nodded.

Ruby felt as much dread as she did relief.

"R-really?"

"Yeah, we can get everyone together in two days and have fun."

"Two days?"

"Yeah why not, we only have one class on Wednesdays so we'll be free to do what we want for the rest of it.

"Right… sure, that makes sense."

With that decided Yang went back to her exercise for a few minutes, before going to take a shower as Blake woke up.

The Faunus girl raised an eyebrow but made no comment on the blonde's early rising. On schedule Weiss got up too, and eventually the four of them were ready for breakfast.

They reached the cafeteria and were waved over by Nora to a table occupied by team JNPR.

"Hey~!" the bruiser cheered as they sat down. "I hear you four were up to no good. What happened?"

Weiss sighed. "Something that we've been told not to speak about," she said. It was true, the police that arrived on the scene had asked for them not to share information on the White Fang attack until they had things properly filed.

"Let's just say we… What's the saying?"

"Bit off more than we could chew?" Yang suggested.

Weiss scowled in her direction but nodded. "Yes, and you can probably guess who's to blame for that."

The blonde could only sigh and give an apologetic shrug to the other team.

They didn't seem off-put by it and Pyrrha smiled reassuringly.

"Well it sounds to me like your team has had quite a lot of excitement recently. I wonder what you be doing today after class then… do you have anything planned?"

"Detention." Blake answered distractedly. The Faunus' ears twitched back and forth as she listened to the conversation, while her eyes were completely focused on one of the new books she'd purchased from Tukson. It was actually impressive how she managed to multitask that long with eating her breakfast.

The red-head winced. "Oh… I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It is fine," Weiss assured her. "We all realised that our actions have consequences… this just happens to be one of them."

Ren nodded in her direction. "That is a very mature outlook. I think that I would probably be upset about a detention no matter the reason."

Yang snorted in laughter. "Oh yeah, like you'd be upset about anything. You'd have to break character first mister calm and collected."

Ren just rolled his eyes good-naturedly while Nora and Yang chatted on about just what the blonde was being forced to do in her detention today.

"So what is it the four of you did yesterday?" Weiss asked. "You mentioned training before right?"

Pyrrha nodded. "The four of us sparred together for a few hours. Nora was definitely a challenge." The champion winced at that, and as if remembering a phantom pain rolled her shoulders. "She has far too much strength for her size."

"Sorry~" Nora sang from the far side of the table.

Weiss hummed. "It is good to see you all improving." She complimented, while sending a pointed look towards the leader of team JNPR. Pyrrha caught her meaning.

"Yes, we've all been doing well. Some of us are making impressive strides considering."

Yes, considering Jaune was the weakest of them.

Well… maybe it wasn't fair to label him as weak: Beacon was a school filled with people training to be elite warriors. He just happened to have the lowest scores in their combat class.

When the blond in question didn't respond in any way Ruby looked to him.

"Jaune? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" he asked, perking up. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Really?" she pressed. "You've been staring at your food for the last ten minutes and you just look kind of… out of it."

He shook his head and gave a clearly fake smile. "Really I'm fine! Don't worry about me."

Ruby looked towards the other red-head with a questioning look. The fighter sighed and caved in.

"Jaune's been having some trouble with Carin again."

"Pyrrha!" he cried out in betrayal.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "But no matter how much he bullies you, you never do anything to stop it. It's been going on for too long now."

"I told you it's _fine,_ " Jaune argued. "Besides it's not just me, Cardin's a bully to everyone in some way."

As if one queue there was a noise as Cardin's laughter filled the hall. Most people tried to ignore it, but a few – along with team RWBY and JNPR – turned to see what was happening.

The tall male looked down with his chest puffed out arrogantly, at a smaller girl, with chestnut brown hair and a pair of rabbit ears atop her head.

She didn't look up at Cardin. The Faunus was looking to her feet, to the floor and to the tray that had been slapped out of her hand.

"What's this?" Cardin mocked cruelly. "You got in my way again freak."

Ruby frowned, as did the rest of her team, with the exception of a particularly dangerous glare and pressed ears by Blake.

Everyone around in the cafeteria was quiet.

Pyrrha shook her head. "It is awful that that man is even an example of what Huntsmen could be."

"Who is she anyway?" Yang asked. "Shouldn't her team be here to back her up."

"Her name's Velvet Scarlatina." Weiss supplied. "She a second year, part of team CFVY. I heard that the rest of her team were picked for a field trip. She wasn't."

"So she has to deal with punks like Cardin by herself?" Yang sighed.

"Well?" Cardin sneered, leaning down closer to the rabbit Faunus. "You have something you want to say?"

She was shaking now, and her fists were clenched tight. She looked like she wanted to explode.

But she didn't. Velvet didn't speak up or move. She just kept glaring at the ground.

Eventually, Cardin realised she wasn't going to do anything and sneered.

"Tch," he spat. "Damn coward." And with that he pushed past her, making sure to jostle her with his shoulder.

Moments later Velvet scurried out the door, her head still down as she fled. Moments later the hall filled up again with talk.

Jaune sighed. "Like I said, Cardin's a jerk to everyone… at least I don't get it as bad as some people."

Blake scowled. "He's a bully and a racist. Why on Remnant is someone like him trying to be a huntsman at all? He's disgusting."

"Dunno," Yang shrugged. "Hey, just promise that if he goes after you because of _your_ ears you'll let us know right? I'll make regret it."

The Faunus girl blinked in surprise, but allowed a small smile to slip out.

"Thank you, Yang."

The blonde grinned and threw an arm around Blake's shoulder. "No problem partner, nobody's allowed to touch the kitty but me."

 _That_ got a much bigger reaction as Blake's face flushed red and she spluttered.

"Look's like you guys are having fun."

Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin at the familiar voice.

"A-amber?"

The girl in question smiled back. She stood with a tray of food in hand and a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"I know you!" Yang pointed. "You're the girl from the docks the other day that saved our asses."

Amber waved back. "The very same." She nodded to the space beside Ruby. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Ruby nodded rapidly and shifted over a bit to make more room. "Sure." She squeaked.

She couldn't help it. Why was she here? Why was Ozpin letting a half-maiden with a target on her back show her face at the school? Could she even explain who she was?"

"Hello there," Pyrrha greeted. "I don't believe we've met before."

"Oh, sorry," she giggled. "My name's Amber Autumn." She extended at hand which the Mistral champion took happily."

"Oh~" Nora beamed. "Your name rhymes."

Amber laughed. "Yes, yes it does." She turned to look at them all. "I'm sorry, but I don't think any of us have been _properly_ introduced."

There was a chorus of 'ahs' from them as they did just that; Yang, Nora and Pyrrha with different levels of excitement, Jaune with a bit of bumbling, as Weiss, Blake and Ren introduced themselves politely.

"So Amber," Yang asked after they were finished. "Who exactly are you, and how exactly do you know our young team leader?"

The half-maiden answered before Ruby could even show signs of panic.

"Oh well I'm studying my last year here at Beacon." She answered. "I met Ruby here on the road last year on a solo mission."

 _Lies_ , Ruby noted immediately. The Headmaster must have gone through some sort of cover story with her. She supposed it made sense; after she'd revealed herself at the docks it was important for the headmaster to control what information about Amber was revealed…

Still.

Weiss bowed her head. "Well it is an honour to meet someone so far ahead of us. And even more after you saved us. You have my thanks Miss Autumn."

Amber waved her off. "You don't need to thank me Miss Schnee, It's not like I would ignore someone in need of help. It was a natural thing."

"Well, either way, I am thankful." Weiss conceded. "And it sounds like you were a genuine role model for my partner if her early acceptance into Beacon is anything to say about it."

"Ha! AS if," the maiden laughed. "I didn't really have a hand in inspiring Ruby. I'm pretty sure she wanted to be a huntress when I met her too."

"Amber~" Ruby whined. This really wasn't the time to spread rumours about her, not when she couldn't deny them if they happened to be fake. Knowing Ozpin he'd have told Amber to spin whatever tale she wanted to make her story more believable and Ruby would be expected to play along.

That was pretty hard to do when it came out of the blue.

Thankfully Amber noticed her discomfort, and after playing it off with a laugh managed to steer the topic of conversation onto safer grounds. She talked about all the exciting missions they'd probably get up to, she spoke about how long she'd been doing them herself and how tough they could be. Each little lie seeming to make her more and more… relatable.

"Wait a minute!" Nora gasped. "I think I remember you!"

Jaune tilted his head. "Uh, Nora,? I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've met-"

"No, no, no," Nora argued. "You were in one of the bullheads at initiation. You're the one that zapped the Ouroboros!"

The others froze and turned to stare at her in shock. Amber just smiled and raised her hand.

"Guilty~"

"No way!" Yang gawked. "Yeah I remember you now. I couldn't see you clearly from so far away but yeah!" Yang had leaned over in her seat now. "You must be crazy strong!"

"I suppose," Amber allowed. "I'm kind of like a prefect of sorts, but instead of making sure students don't run in the halls I watch over them when they take trips into the emerald forest."

 _That_ might have been Amber's best lie yet. Ruby frowned. The older girl had been almost forcefully honest for the time Ruby had known her… had such a small time with Oz changed that?

That… left a bad taste in her mouth… especially with how easy Amber was managing to do it.

"So _Amber,_ " Ruby asked. "is there a reason you decided to… make your way over here?"

"Hm? Oh, I guess so, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it looks like the four of you guys will be having separate detentions with different teachers."

Yang groaned.

Blake looked confused. "Really? Why?"

Aber shrugged.

"Don't know. All I've been told this that it's be Miss Schnee with Professor Port, Belladonna with Oobleck, Xiao-Long with Goodwitch and Rose with the Headmaster."

Ruby resisted the urge for the sharp look she wanted to give the brunette. She held back a sigh. It looked like Ozpin wanted her for something.

It was enough to occupy her thoughts well after Amber bid her farewell and they went to class. If anything it was distracting, and not in the pleasant way you wanted to be distracted in when listening to professor Port, more like the frustrating distractions that could happen when trying to keep up with professor Oobleck.

Who just so happened to be the one who was teaching them.

He stood at the front of the class, his wild, green hair still even as he sped from left to right

"Today we will be discussing the founding of Vale, not the kingdom, but even further back, the city itself."

' _Okay,'_ Ruby allowed ' _at least this class could be interesting.'_

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang tried her best to look like she was listening to Professor Oobleck's class, she really did, but she just didn't have any motivation to listen to the teacher go on about, well, history.

Yang didn't like history, she didn't like dwelling on the past and even more so bringing up painful times again.

The last class they'd had with Professor Oobleck was bad enough, the thought of what happened to Faunus all that time ago was bad enough before taking into account that it might give her a reason to feel bad for the White Fang.

The blonde's eyes fell to Blake.

As the professor spoke her partner took notes insistently. Yang suppressed a sigh. She didn't like history… but it looked like Blake was more than a little interested.

She hadn't actually gotten a chance to properly talk to her partner after the whole craziness at the docks.

She really didn't know what to say though, it had been her fault they'd ended up in such a bad situation thanks to her temper, and then Blake had been shocked by those people she recognised… after the teachers came and told them off well… Weiss was maybe more vocal in her anger towards Yang's screw up but she knew Blake felt more or less the same.

It was weird, Blake was quiet already, but it felt different when she did it on purpose.

It made Yang feel guilty.

Which was as weird as it was annoying. Yang didn't care what anyone thought of her, not her crappy 'friends' back at Signal, not punks like team CRDL, not even her dad.

It was just the kind of person she had to be growing up. She'd been stuck dealing with so many people who couldn't really care less about her for most of her life.

So… with all that said, her partners' mood wasn't exactly something she was thrilled with.

She sighed again. After this she decided, after her detention, she'd need to find a way to make it up to Blake.

To Weiss too of course, but mostly her partner.

Well, she'd have to think of something, but for now, maybe she could show she was trying by actually listening to the green-haired professor for once?

Oobleck's back was too then as he scribbled down a rough drawing of Vale before it was populated, basically an open landmass with a handy cliff side.

"Centuries, perhaps millennia ago," he said. "Settlers of the continent attempted to start up homes where they could live and thrive with others. It is not clear on exactly how many, but there were _many_ failed attempts. This, was a time when humanity didn't have an organized structure. There were no official armies and weaponry was far from where it is today. All they had was their sheer willpower, and tenacity."

He fixed his glass on his face as the eyes behind them scanned the class.

"Eventually however, maybe by some stroke of luck, a group of men and women stumbled across one of the greatest possible chances they would ever have at building civilisation; a wide open plain, one side protected by a shallow sea, one by rich, expansive forests and surrounded on nearly all sides by huge mountains."

He turned again to the board and drew a diagram of houses beginning to sprout up.

"With these natural defences the people quickly got to work on fortifying the only entrances in and out, as well as making the land they had sustainable for living, with farming and agriculture already developed at this point in made settling permanently easier." He hummed, and a Yang could hear more than a few people – her Weiss and Blake included – scribble down notes at a frantic pace to match the professor.

Yang raised an eyebrow when she looked at Ruby, who was actually using her semblance to write faster, and so didn't look nearly as panicked as some of the others.

It was almost comical to Yang how her sister could use her speed so mundanely.

She looked down at her own notebook, which she hadn't opened yet…

Eh… she'd just try and memorise it.

"It took hundreds of years, but through determination and the dedication of many lives Vales was finally established, and as it is today, it is one of the safest places on Remnant. After that, once a Monarchy was established, the first King of Vale set out to expand as much as he could… but even to this day, while we call it a kingdom, in reality it is merely a number of frontier towns that have managed to survive. As you will remember from last time, no other cities lasted."

There was a collective shiver from the class and Oobleck nodded.

"As I thought. However, there is one particular piece of historical writing that interests me greatly. Now keep in mind that it is controversial, and while many believe in it – including myself – it has not had enough evidence to support whether it's true or not. That thing being, that there was a previous civilisation, that the first inhabitants of Vale build right on top of.

"But sir," Weiss questioned. "Surely if it there was another city underneath this one we would know about it. Wouldn't there be signs?"

Oobleck smiled. "Oh but there are Miss Schnee, but we will get to that. Firstly I must tell you _why_ this part of history is heavily argued." He looked around at his students. "Simply put, the writings of the ancient city are surrounded by more myth and legend than any actual recorded fact, and because things were told by word of mouth back then rather than documentation, there are scarce few, with writing appearing at what is seemingly the end of the era."

"The writings tell us of how the cities walls were built by living stone, how the forests were defended by Spriggans and Faeries and how powerful wizards and witches inhabited the homes." He smiled again. "Of course I'm not one to believe in _that_ kind of history."

There was a chuckle from a few students.

"Even so," he went on. "All myths come from somewhere, and it is that somewhere that I am interested in. Many would discard it as nonsense and move on to other, more tangible things. I was almost the same, but there is one thing that stops me."

He nodded to Weiss. "You asked for signs miss Schnee? Well look no further than the ruins of the Emerald Forest." There was a mutter among the students.

"Did you ever wonder where they came from?" he asked the class. "How such massive spirals of stone could have lasted as long as they did? Some might suggest that they come from the first buildings of Vale, but the stone hint that they are much older than that. Not to mention that the idea that Vale was built on top when considering that the main tower of the ruins descends so far into a chasm that the bottom is invisible. We also cannot disprove this since when people attempted to excavate the site, they travel so far down that breathing became almost impossible and forces them back to the surface."

"So it's not actually proven either though," Yang groused. "It's just some fairy tale from when people thought magic was real."

"I suppose," Oobleck allowed. "It's not actually about whether it is true or not, but about discovering that if there _was_ an ancient civilisation, then how did they manage to build a city against the Grimm? And how did they fall?"

The bell rang, signalling the end of class. the professor checked his watch.

"Well, that will have to be the end of it today, it looks like time got away from us. Oh and for homework, I want you all to research Mantle for next class, as sticking with the topic of previous civilisations."

Yang grumbled as at the work set but didn't voice a complaint as she made her way to another class by herself, tactfully avoiding her team so that she could go in peace. Miss Goodwitch was waiting for her patiently and greeted her with a nod as she opened the door.

Yang blinked at the other person in the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Sun Wukong, he gave a nervous wave and laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

"Mr Wukong was there with you at the docks the other night," the older woman supplied. "he is a student of Haven under our watch and as such is capable of the same punishments as you. Now, we were willing to let him off with a warning since he had only arrived a day prior." She glanced at the Faunus boy. "However Mrs Wukong actually volunteered to help you with your detention, since he admits to being just as responsible for the even as any of you.

Yang turned to stare at the guy in surprise. Huh, this was something she definitely wasn't expecting.

After that Miss Goodwitch led them to the library and explained to them exactly what they'd be doing: rearranging the archives in order. That didn't sound like much, until you took into account that the archive section was over two hundred shelves, and involved carefully reading each book to decide where it coincided.

Goodwitch left them to it, and for the most part worked in silence, it was kind of awkward at first until they got into it. the whole time the brawler would notice Sun shooting her looks as they stacked books…

Ugh… this was terrible. Yang knew what the deal with him was, mainly her being a complete idiot last time they'd met and threatening him. Yeah, way-to-go Yang, he probably had a _great_ impression of you.

This whole situation was weird; the two of them together and alone in the library, (A place she'd never visit willingly) and stuck with him helping her with her detention. She just didn't know what to say.

It might be a good idea to just stay quiet and get this over with, the faster she did the faster she could leave… that lasted for a good ten minutes until Yang worked up the nerve to talk to Sun.

"Hey, Sun? Thanks for helping me. I don't know why but it's a lot better with someone here than doing it on my own. I think I'd go crazy if I had to do this thing alone."

Sun looked surprised but laughed. "Hey don't mention it," he shrugged. "But you want me to be honest? I _kinda_ volunteered to help _Blake_ with whatever she was doing."

Yang blinked again. That was… honest.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "But the teach figured that out fast, and decided that I'd help you instead, not that there's anything wrong with that, but if I'm honest, you sorta scare me."

She grimaced. "Sorry about that by the way," she said. "Last time I was all worked up about Ruby, but I shouldn't have been like that and threatened you."

"Nah it's good," he waved away dismissively. "I get it, that you were under a lot of pressure. At first I thought it was because she was your team leader but family? Yeah I'd be worried too."

Yang hummed and after a moment turned to grin at him.

"You know, you're pretty cool Sun."

He returned the look in kind. "Heh, you mind telling my teammates that? They're always saying at Neptune's the cool one."

"No promises."

They shared a laugh, and when it died down Sun hummed.

"You know… I could probably make this go faster with my semblance."

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "How does it work?"

"It's like solid clones of myself. If I make two… we could, I dunno, relax a while."

She grinned. "Well get to it monkey boy!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to stop with that name… are you?"

"Nope!"

He rolled his eyes but didn't complain any further as he clasped his hands together in a prayer-like motion.

There was a flash of light as two, almost see-through copies of Sun appeared and instantly got to work setting the books back in their place.

With that, Sun took a set at one of the tables, kicking his feet up on the table, Yang did the same beside him as they watched his clones work.

"How long can they last?" Yang wondered aloud.

Sun shrugged. "Eh, anywhere from ten to twenty minutes for something like this. I need to concentrate but it's not hard until I make a third one. This at least let's be kickback you know?"

"I do." Yang grinned.

The sat and just watched the clones at work of a minute until eventually she gave Sun a sideways glance.

"So… Blake?"

"Y-yeah! W-why?"

"Just wonderin'" Yang shrugged nonchalantly. "I was just wondering why you like her."

"W-well why wouldn't I?" Sun asked defensively. "I mean, she's pretty, and smart, and has like, a really strong sense of justice or whatever, I mean, I got that from just a few days."

Yeah, Yang could admit all of that was pretty true, if a little downplayed by Sun.

Blake was smoking' hot, and Yang wasn't afraid to appreciate that about her partner. She was like, a dark and mysterious beauty, and she _was_ smart. Yang almost always saw her reading and she was always listening in class, but it was just that. She was _witty_ and quick thinking and intelligent. And yeah, the sense of justice was there she guessed, but it was kinda more than that.

Yang hadn't exactly known her partner for long, but enough now to realise that Blake was passionate about the White Fang, her history with them and her desire to do good both by the Faunus and Humans was pretty awe-inspiring. There were a lot of other things too: like her sarcasm that made Yang laugh, how she always listened when the brawler spoke, how her intense gaze and bright eyes. Her long dark hair and pale skin and that amused smile that made Yang weak at the knee-

Yang's eyes widened.

Aw crap.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The elevator dinged as it opened, and Ruby greeted the headmaster with a nod as she stood to attention in front of his desk.

"You wanted to see me for my detention sir?"

"I did," he confirmed. "please take a seat miss Rose."

She did, and waited patiently as Ozpin poured coffee into two mugs, before offering her one. She took it, although frowning at the lack of alcohol within and that smirk of Ozpin's showing he was well aware

Bloody Goodwitch and her terrifying glare.

There was at least sugar in it, so she could enjoy the taste.

Ozpin sipped slowly and regarded his follower with calculating eyes. After a moment her spoke.

"How are you Miss Rose? Recovering well from the other night?"

"You mean the kidnapping?" she asked. When he nodded she shrugged. "I'm fine. Nothing bad really happened other than a cramp from sitting in the same chair for a few hours. It shouldn't be me you're worried about anyway; my team are the ones who were in danger."

"Indeed," he hummed. "Your team and a new friend apparently… what do you know of him?"

"You mean Sun? not much I guess. Just that he helped out my team and that he's here for the festival."

Ozpins smirk grew wider and she felt compelled to ask if only because her suspicion was growing.

"Why?"

He took another sip.

"Oh, I was just curious. It seems that you didn't get to properly introduce yourself to him, nor he to you." He glanced up at her. "It would be the polite thing to correct that situation with Mr Wukong."

Ruby choked on her coffee, coughing and spluttering at Ozpin chuckled. She glared up at him when she got her breathing back under control.

"You can't be serious! Another one? How, are you sure?"

"You tell me Miss Rose," he drawled. "After all it could just be a coincidence. It could mean nothing that a young Huntsman-in-training's name is Sun Wukong, that by chance someone with that name is a monkey Faunus, who fights with a bo-staff, who according to teachers at Haven has a semblance that creates clones _and_ seems about the same age as the Avatars here in Beacon."

Ruby groaned. "Okay I get it; you didn't need the sarcasm."

"What sarcasm?" he smiled.

Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes. The headmaster could be particularly annoying when he was in the mood for games. Especially when he was smug about something.

This was just great. Another Avatar to make Ruby feel on edge. Yeah, there was definitely something strange going on. She knew there was a lot already, but she might have been able to ignore it if they were all from the same kingdom… that was out the window now.

"Is that want you wanted to see me about sir?"

"It is not." He allowed. "I have a mission for you Miss Rose, one that you will be taking without your team."

The Reaper straightened up. If she was going solo it could only mean that it involved magic.

When Ozpin knew he had her attention he continued.

"There have been stirrings in Vale… I have had information passed onto me about creatures residing in downtown Vale causing trouble, there have been robberies, assaults and all together growing tensions. I suspect they are of the grey-skinned variety."

"Feral Goblins?" Ruby asked. This was kind of a shock. From what her uncle had told her, Vale wasn't somewhere monsters got to call home.

Ozpin frowned. "All Goblins are feral beasts Miss Rose, but yes, I suppose they could be considered the more dangerous variety."

"Okay," she nodded. "So… what do you want me to do exactly? Find them and chase them out of the city?"

"No, you are to exterminate them."

Ruby blinked. "But… aren't Goblins intelligent?"

The old wizard didn't look impressed. "No more than any animal… will there be a problem with this Miss Rose?"

She scowled. "Of course not, I'll go straight away."

She made to stand but the Headmaster made her pause.

"Before you do, make sure you are equipped properly… here take these, they should be enough to aid you. A little insurance of sorts."

He was referring to the leather pouch on the desk, Ruby took a look inside and nodded; it was filled with salt. He wasn't finished though, and as she stashed it away Ozpin opened a drawer in his desk. Ruby's eyes widened slightly.

"You really think I'll need that?"

"I would rather be sure the job is done." He answered firmly as he handed her the item of interest.

That being a silver dagger.

The entire thing was silver, from the blade to the guard to the grip… it reminded her of a stiletto dagger and was made for the sole of killing creatures of the magical world.

There was a gravity to the situation that wasn't there before. Ozpin expected her to kill.

She took a breath.

"I understand sir. Will that be all?"

He hummed. "Try looking in the industrial area downtown… that seems to be where the majority of them are located."

"Alright then." She said, and with that Ruby bowed and stepped back into the elevator again.

The ride down was heavier than the ride up.

Ozpin was right. They weren't actually people, not in the way Faunus were. They were closer to Grimm. That's what Uncle Qrow had taught her for years. It was just… this would be the first time she'd gone on one of these missions alone, and it was the first she'd been given by Ozpin personally.

It was unsettling that his first was an execution order.

A few hours later Ruby was in downtown Vale. Her teammates were all busy with their own detentions, and team JNPR was doing whatever it was they did together, so nobody would realize she was gone until later tonight.

Hopefully this wouldn't take that long, she'd already gotten dressed in her combat outfit and her scythe was stored on her back, so really the only thing left to do was find the targets.

She looked from side to side. The district was still full of people, most coming home from work, but a few just loitering.

Up ahead Ruby could see a metalwork factory. She hummed.

From what she knew about Goblins; they liked to horde things, or barring that, they liked to live near a place where they could collect things. They favour metal, which was strange in its own way, but it was just that, it didn't matter if it was new and shiny or old and rusty.

Goblins liked metal.

That did give Ruby an advantage, since they were feral Goblins.

She made her way over to the factory even as she recounted what she knew in her head:

Goblins liked metal, but like many magical creatures were burned by iron. Feral monsters weren't as smart as others. Something about their minds rotting away the more they fell into madness.

If her hunch was right and they were in the metalwork's, then it gave her plenty of things to fight with.

She was at the gates now – a chain-link fence – which had been looked securely. She frowned. That told her two things; one, this was still a place people worked at, which meant that if she didn't do something today then there was a risk people could get hurt tomorrow and two…

She had to break in.

She looked around, making sure none was here to see her trespass before she got a good grip on the protective fence and began climbing.

Well, that was something to consider Ruby supposed.

If it was locked that meant she could do this in secrecy.

The huntress-in-training was just as fazed by the locked doors as she was the fence but at least realised that there might be alarms if she just smashed her way in. she looked up, what had she to work with?

' _Let's see… the outside is pretty much solid concrete, so no way I'm breaking through that… um… I could try the doors but there's too much risk. If an alarm goes off then I could alert the targets… and if the police arrive it might turn it a bloodbath… wait… is that… okay, a smashed window on the fifth floor. It looks big enough for me to fit through. This still has to be quiet though."_

Ruby hummed.

"Maybe..." she trailed off.

She bent her knees, and looked up at the window.

With the strength in her leg she had Ruby _pushed_ off the ground and activated her semblance simultaneously. There was a burst of rose petals as she shot upwards and latched onto the bottom of the ledge.

Looking down it was easy to tell that the fall back down would be a painful one.

"Whew," she sighed in relief. "That would have been embarrassing to mess up."

She pulled herself up and over and brushed herself off as she looked around.

It wasn't pitch black but it was pretty dark. Dusty too. Maybe they should have someone clean up here. She shook her head, it wasn't important.

Ruby narrowed her eyes as she looked down the corridor. There _was_ a light coming down the hallway; it was a dull red. It might have just been machinery or a smeltery that hadn't cooled down fully, but then again it might not be.

Ruby readied Crescent Rose, in its firing form for range and slowly crept down the halls.

She winced at her own footsteps, too loud in the all but silence building, and for every one she took Ruby felt as if something was about to turn the corner and spot her.

She bit the inside of her mouth. Was this what uncle Qrow had to deal with all the time?

Maybe, but she knew this wasn't the time to wonder about it.

Especially because at that moment there was a crash further in.

The sound was loud, almost like a wall had been broken through, and it made her jump.

She cursed at herself under her breath but listened out at the sound of bare feet could be heard slapping across the ground, and wild snarling echoed through the building.

Ruby sucked in a breath. So they were here. Alright, she had to be cautious. The warrior checked her gun for ammunition just to make sure before steeling herself and kicking up the pace.

The closer she got the louder the sounds. There were more of them now too; gargled noises and inhuman shrikes that sent shivers down her spine. There were a lot of them, a cacophony of dozens of high-pitched and wild cries.

She made the opening, and squinted as her eyes adjusted to reddish lights below. She'd been right about the machinery at least, the lighting it offered just about giving her the ability to see.

Not only that, but she was one some kind of catwalk, and but the looks of it when she peered over the edge it looked like there was a commotion.

She could make it all out, but from the looks of it, there was about twenty or so small, greyish shapes surrounding a more human-like figure in black.

And it looked like they weren't on the same side.

They were fighting, the one in black cutting down their foes with brutal efficiency. Every second was filled with the sound of metal on metal and sparks were flying.

Ruby felt instinct take over as she leapt off the side and into the fight, landing beside the black figure. They were male, judging by the height and broad shoulders, but apart from that Ruby couldn't make out, didn't have time because as soon as she landed the Feral Goblins lunged.

She fired twice, blasting the heads of the two who were closest and slamming the butt of her sniper rife against a third.

She turned to the man.

"Listen, I'm here to help, let me take this side!" she called to him over the retched racket these things were making. She didn't know why she did, but Ruby felt compelled to explain herself even as she had rushed to his aid.

His face was shadowed by a hood, his shoulders were stiff as if seeming shocked by something she couldn't recognise but he nodded, and turned to cover her back.

Ruby got a good look at his weapon: it was a straight sword, but with only a single edge and a thin guard. It was about the length of her arm and even in the dull light shined silver.

He was here to kill these Goblins too then apparently.

Ruby engaged the mecha-shift of Crescent Rose and swung the weapon as it changed into a scythe cleaving through three of the grey-skinned monsters at once before dodging to the right as one lashed out at her with a clawed hand.

Ruby countered almost instantly, stepping into its reach and shoving the shaft of her weapon into its throat.

It was then that she got a good look at the creature:

It was disgusting; it had an almost human face, but its chin was too pointed and cheekbones too high. The things back was hunched and lumpy cysts had formed on it. Its eyes were a sickly yellow that were brought out further by its grey, corpse-like skin, and it had elongated, gnarled black and brown fangs that stuck out from both lips. That wasn't even the worst part.

Ruby wrinkled her nose at the _smell._

This thing was rotting, clear as day, but not only that, this was a creature that lived and roamed in its own waste, feral and dirty the stench almost made her sick.

She pulled the trigger and felt the satisfying recoil as the blade of her scythe cleaver through the monster.

The red reaper wasn't done, ducking under two more dangerous claws and pushed Crescent Rose past them, they two Goblins snarled and moved into to her open guard.

She smirked, pulling the trigger again and watching as the two enemies were cut in half from the back.

Ruby didn't let up. She could afford to was more came at her from three sides.

Slash, Cut, Stab, Slice and Rend.

Ruby was a whirlwind of red, faster than any of these creatures could match and only enhanced with her semblance kicked into overdrive. At this rate she'd-

Ruby's eyes widened and she just managed to roll under a steel pipe that had been thrown at her head.

She looked up and swore at the much more dangerous enemy that had just appeared.

It was like the other foes only in the colour of its skin, the rest of its attributes far outclassing its peers.

It was a Hobgoblin.

They were bigger than Goblins, way bigger, almost nine feet tall and rippling with ugly and distorted muscles. Its teeth were longer, its eyes sharper and slit.

It stood on two feet while the smaller ones nearly crawled.

Probably the most dangerous part though was its equipment; it wore the skulls and bones of its kin as armour and wielded a massive metal beam as a bastardised club nearly as long as she was tall and looked heavy enough to crush her.

It looked her dead in the eye. It didn't shriek or cry, it roared. So loud that Ruby felt her bones rattle and she clenched her teeth.

It must have sensed weakness in her because it charged forward with the intent to turn her into bloody paste.

Ruby wasn't ashamed to admit she took a step back in shock. It was a mistake though, because it meant she'd lost the chance to avoid the attack, and her eyes locked onto the club at it was raided into the air.

She almost missed the man in back dashing past her, but when she did she cried out a warning. Did he not see that things weapon?

She needn't have worried, as the man stepped into the Hobgoblins reach and ducked left, where it couldn't move into and swung the silver blade up into its armpit.

It roared in pain even as it fell back a step but the man followed, wielding his sword like a cleaver her chopped again and again at the monster arm.

Ruby somehow managed to lose track of just how many swings the stranger took when three things happened at one:

First, the Hobgoblins arm was severed, sent flying into the dark where she couldn't see it. Second, the blood that gushed out of the newly open wound splashed onto her face, blinding her for a split second, which allowed the third thing to happened;

The goblins all cried out at once, and Ruby felt herself lift off the ground as something grabbed her. She fell back with an 'oomph' as her back hit the ground and a weight kept her from getting back up. The noises rose louder and louder until all at once they disappeared.

Ruby reached up and wiped the blood from her eyes and stared blearily at the figure again.

"Uh… thanks?"

She sat up and looked around. They were all gone… they must have run...escaped somehow.

The man finally spoke.

"It's not over. The big one booked it and the others followed by they'll be back… I'm pretty sure this is their nest."

Ruby felt her brow crease. This guy's voice sounded… familiar. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time.

"Well, yeah. Who are you anyway? You were obviously here to hunt them down…" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "but I didn't hear anything about meeting up with another group."

There was a pause, before the man laughed with a kind of bitter mirth dripping from his voice.

"This is a little bit of a weird situation, but I guess that's just my luck. Heh… damn Ozpin loves playing games with the Order."

The silver-eyed warrior blinked.

"I'm… Sorry, what?"

"Oh, right. Guess you don't recognise me… how about this?"

He reached up to pull down the hood and turned to her.

Ruby would admit that her jaw might have dropped a little even as she gasped… but she didn't think anyone would blame her, not when it was not only someone she knew, but someone who by all accounts, had never given a hint that they were anything more than a racist and a bully.

"C-Cardin?"

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **There we go. I told you I wanted to make Cardin a bigger character. this is probably sooner than most of you were expecting but here it is.**

 **What do you think? Good? Bad? Completely stupid?**

 **Whatever you think you can let me know.**

 **And what do you think about Yang's little realisation? Romance is going to e a part of this story, hopefully well written and I wanted to get it going slowly. Sun's still a factor, of course, I always see people write him or his feeling out of a story that includes the bees. That won't be happening here.**

 **And Amber, going to be a bigger part for MOST of this story, even if it was a bit hard to get her introduced to the rest of the teams in a reasonable way. this at least made sense.**

 **And just if people are wondering or think Yang's detention was stupid, I've done it myself once a long time ago. I mean. I love reading, I like libraries, but when you have to arrange over a thousand books in alphabetical as well as age and genre-specific order?**

 **You want to burn all the paper left in the world.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, PlEASE follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Especially Review, even if its to say if you liked it or didn't, any bit of feedback in appreciated and a try to respond to it all.**

 **BYE!**

 **p a treon . com (slash)** **WSpectre**


	16. Cover Story: Part 2

When Cardin had told her that they needed to talk somewhere safe, Ruby had honestly expected an alleyway, or a bar, or even a club.

Not the best restaurant in the entire city.

The red reaper felt out of place the moment they walked in: it was huge, sparkling, and grand.

It was the type of place only big money could afford. Like, really big money. Ruby had an idea that this place might even make Weiss sweat a little.

And here Cardin was just walking in without a care.

When they walked in Ruby only got a few seconds to stare before a man came to greet them. He wore some kind of tuxedo and as he came closer he sent a critical gaze towards Ruby, taking in her dirt combat outfit. Clearly he didn't think she belonged here

Ugh, Ruby felt like he was right. She didn't even know what to _call_ him. It was a greeter, right? Was it a greeter?

"Good evening sir," the man bowed. "Do you have a reservation at this establishment?"

"I do not." Was the reply, and the man's face twitched as he stared at Cardin. Yeah. What did he think of them now? Probably that they were some kind of riffraff off the street.

But he was professional at least.

"Then do you have business here sir?"

Cardin nodded, reaching into his coat and fishing out a golden insignia. "I do… I'd like a table for Winchester please."

The man's eyes widened massively and he paled slightly. "A-ah my apologies sir, madam. R-right this way please."

Ruby blinked at the sudden change but kept quiet as they were lead to the far side of the room. They drew stares as they went: from men and women dressed in some of the most expensive clothes and jewellery she'd ever seen.

They had the same look no matter where she looked; there were veiled glares of disgust, like she was a sewer rat that had jumped onto their table and stolen their meals from in under of them.

When Ruby looked at Cardin, she saw none of the trepidation that she felt. He walked tall, back straighten and head up with confidence.

But it wasn't the arrogance he showed in Beacon.

After a moment they arrived at a table with shutters surrounding all sides.

"For privacy sake," he explained when she looked at him suspiciously. "I know you probably have some questions so this makes things easier."

She could understand that, but she needed to act like that didn't matter, she needed to figure out what was going on without seeming completely clueless.

"This is a pretty fancy place." She deflected as she peered at the menu. "How much would it even cost to get in here?"

Cardin hummed. "I'd say… that if you sold all your organs on the black market for extortionate prices you could pay for about… a tenth of the admission fee?"

Despite herself Ruby let out a strangled gasp. "Seriously? Who eats at a place that expensive?"

"People who want to show off their wealth I guess," he shrugged before frowning. "I don't really like these kinds of people, at least not how most of them are; they waste all their money doing things like this when they could be helping people, funding construction or feeding refugees. I mean sure its fine to self-indulge a little bit but a place like this shouldn't exist to serve them."

The reaper blinked. This… didn't sound like Cardin at all. "So… how are you able to get in here then?"

Another shrug. "My family has ties. Even if they don't know our real business these people respect the Order enough to grovel a little."

Ruby frowned. That was the second time he'd mentioned some kind of order. "Who's that? Or, what is that?"

"The Order?" Cardin asked, turning to the younger girl as he leaned forward in his chair a little. "You don't know? Ozpin didn't tell you?"

Her frown deepened. "Ozpin only told me what I needed to know about the mission, and my know-how of magic pretty much revolves around what I've seen."

The older beacon student put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright I get it, I wasn't blaming you for anything, this is exactly the sort of thing he'd get involved in."

"So, you know him?" Ruby asked, it seemed the logical conclusion if Cardin was talking about the headmaster like this.

"Personally you mean? Apart from what we get at school, no. but the Order has had dealings with him for years… although I guess I need to explain what that is don't I?"

"It would help." Ruby agreed, her frown didn't go away but she leaned back into her own chair to get a little more comfortable.

He nodded. "Alright, where to start… uh… well, the Order has existed as long as Vale has, the city and the Kingdom I mean. They, _we,_ are a group dedicated to safeguarding civilians from the dangers of the more… violent creatures of magic. For as long as we've been around, so has Ozpin apparently, although he wasn't the headmaster then, some kind of immortal wizard from what my father told me."

Well… Ruby could at least say that he wasn't _wrong_.

"Ever since he got into the position he had in the city we've had a sort of… alliance with him, although it's less about trust and more about necessity."

She blinked in confusion. "Meaning?"

Cardin sighed. "Even I know that Ozpin and the first King were the same guy, somehow, and even before that guy founded the schools, when he founded the city way earlier he went on a rampage, exterminating all magical creatures within the city limits. We have… a difference of opinions: The Order has worked with some of the more sentient beings like, Vampires or fairies, we see the chance for cooperation with them but Ozpin for some reason despises all types of magic societies. You'd think he'd be more accepting since he has magic of his own but no."

He ran a hand through his hair as he recited the next bit. "Decades ago the Order fought against Ozpin for this genocide in the shadows, but he's a wizard, a crazy powerful one while we don't have a single person like that in our ranks. We have strong fighters, some on the level of Huntsmen, not anything special, only numbers, even if the man had agents of his own. It made it harder for both sides to protect the people of Vale."

"People were dying to the Grimm because neither could protect the borders of our home. So eventually the Order called a treaty or something. Basically, we managed the magical residents, kept them out for their own safety as well as the humans and Faunus, and in return Ozpin stayed away from us and our affairs."

Cardin grumbled to himself. "Even if you showing up means he's pushing it."

Ruby was confused beyond belief. "But… that doesn't make sense," she said. "Ozpin wouldn't… he would start a _genocide_!"

"Really?" Cardin pushed. "He hasn't shown any thinly veiled hatred for them?"

Ruby's hesitation was enough. But… no, just because he didn't like magical creatures – supposedly – that didn't mean he was crazy enough to kill them all. Right? She shook her head. "That still doesn't explain you."

"What about me?"

"You're Cardin Winchester, how do you come to be a part of some order? How does some… some bully do something like this?"

"You mean a racist, arrogant, ignorant bully with no regard for others?" Cardin questioned with a bitter smile.

She blinked. "Um… yes actually."

He sighed. "I joined Beacon for two reasons: one, to keep an eye on Ozpin. More of a message than anything else to show that we're still here, and judging by the fact that he put me in charge of a team he knows who I am and two… I _want_ to be a huntsman, I want to protect people."

"Then why the bullying?" Ruby pushed.

A pause.

"Do you know what it's like to be a side character in someone else's story?" he asked. "To be not only that, but the idiotic villain in it? That's what I found out when I learned I was an Avatar. The Cardinal of Winchester and then to see the Hero of that story, Jaune of all people be some weakling?"

Ruby licked her lips. SO he knew about the Avatars… and the way he was talking about them it wasn't some big secret. How many people actually knew?

"So… you're taking it out on him?"

"I'm toughening him up!" Cardin growled passionately. "When I was younger I accepted that I was an Avatar and I knew that I wouldn't be a villain, even if my story put me opposed to Joan I wasn't going to do that, but then to see Jaune, someone so weak that he might get himself killed? I can't allow that, and since he had Pyrrha Nikos on his team of all people and _still_ isn't getting stronger? I knew I would have to try a different approach to her, not kindness."

"He's getting better at fighting."

"It's not the fighting I'm worried about?"

Ruby looked up at him in surprise.

"If Jaune stands up to me by himself, fine, he can go about it that way and I won't judge, but even I know that you can't always solve thigs alone, and not everyone is strong enough for that. If he just _asked_ his team for help I'd accept that too but he doesn't. He does _nothing_!" he sighed. "Hunstmen are heroes, they act, risk their lives and put themselves in danger. If he can't even do this for himself how can he expect to do it for others."

She could… see his point but-

"What about the others then?" she pressed. "Like Velvet? A huntsman can't afford to hate all of the Faunus."

"And neither do I." he said. "Look, my family might not be as famous as it used to be, but it's because of our history that we keep this image as Faunus haters. We hunted down creatures of the night, Grimm, rabid werewolves demons, it was the type of thing people asked questions about and it risked the secrecy of it all… so we strung a story about our hate for people no different than us."

The girl frowned. "So that's why you bully her? To keep up the story?"

"No, I do it for the same reason as Jaune, because she's weak from her own faults, she could be so much more than she is but she's so… Cowardly."

"What do you mean?"

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "How many second years Huntsmen would tolerate a first-year bigot picking on them? Not many, that's who. She's meant to be role models for younger students, or barring that at least be resolved enough to make me stop. I may have Order training but I'm still weaker than her, but she's too weak-willed and would you want someone like that in charge of saving lives?"

No… she wouldn't. IF someone like that hesitated even for a second out of fear or self-doubt it could lead to tragedy. "I get it…" She sighed. "I don't agree with how you're doing it but I get it."

Cardin shrugged. "If they both stand up to me I'll be more than happy to be the nice guy and help them out, teach them or just leave them alone if they want it, but until then? They need a villain in their story that _isn't_ going to kill them, so they can learn beforehand."

"You could at least tone down on that stupid look you get on your face."

Cardin blinked, confused. "What stupid look? I don't make a look."

"Oh… never mind then."

She was saved from Cardin's questioning as waiters knocked the shutters, before entering with steaming hot plates of food.

Ruby stared, and the older student took the liberty to explain.

"They have a service here that if you don't order after a certain amount of time they give you what they think suits. Most people order but those who don't normally do this so that they can try new things without losing face if they don't like it. There's actually people who get _paid_ to judge you when you come in and guess what you'd like… and they're good at it."

Yes they were, Ruby could practically feel her mouth water as the dish was set in front of her. The reapers culinary pallet usually just included things she hunter out in the wilds, and more recently the food at school. This though? Oh my.

"Well?"Cardin pressed. "Eat, enjoy it while we talk about what we're going to do next."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, even as she dog into some _very_ tasty looking pork. Seriously, how did you make meat taste so good?!

"Those goblins might have been driven off but we didn't do any permanent damage." He explained. "The feral kinds don't leave unless you destroy the nest, what's worse is that hobgoblin probably wasn't the only big guy we have to worry about."

That was true, and Ruby had been in enough danger with just one of those things… if they were going into the centre of all that then…

"Alright," she nodded, biting into a tender cut, enjoying the pleasure of food before this undoubtedly went to hell. "What's the plan?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

They returned to the industrial are just an hour later, with the moon starting to rise high in the sky it gave them the perfect light needed for scoping places like this out.

Cardin had his hood up, and the black coat did a good job of keeping him hidden in the dark. Ruby's cape on the other hand wasn't much help… maybe she could do something about that sometime.

She shook her head. No wasn't the place to lose focus.

The building looked as deserted as it had before but now there was an air of danger around it, one that made Ruby's neck prickle with nerves.

"So how are we going to do this?" she whispered to the older Huntsman next to her.

"You said you can in from the floors above right? I came in from the back and we left from the front, that means that the nest has to be somewhere else… if the building has an underground level that's where it'll be, but that means tighter spaces and higher risks of ambushes."

He glanced at her. "How are you in close quarters."

Ruby bit her lip in thought. "I'm alright," she said. "My scythe is built around long and midrange combat, but I'm decent enough with knives… silver works better anyway right?"

"That's right. My short sword a sliver and steel alloy like your own dagger, but that means that you can't do much against the bigger guys."

"You have an idea then?"

"I do," He confirmed. "Leave hobgoblins to me, just make sure the rabble stays off our backs. You can deal with the smaller ones right."

"Yeah, my speed won't be much help in small spaces but it should be enough to beat any of the regular goblins."

"Then you deal with those ones, got it?"

"Yeah I got it."

With that the two of them moved in as quietly as possible, the doors hadn't been locked so they at least knew nobody had come to check it out. Cardin took the lead, and since they already knew where to go it was a straight b-line to the lower levels.

"Why do places like this even have lower levels?" Ruby asked as they made their way down. It was dark, like, nearly impossible to see thanks to there being a complete absence of light anywhere but upstairs. The dust tickled Ruby's nose, and so took what she thought was a monumental effort. The quiet was killing her, the only interruptions in the crushing atmosphere was their own footste-

"Wait!" Cardin hissed, throwing an arm out to stop her. "Somethings wrong."

She froze, and peered down the hallway, the only direction any danger could come from.

It was empty.

"What is it?" she whispered, and flinched when even that bounced off the walls.

"I don't know," He replied. "That's the problem… it's not just goblins here, you can feel it can't you? The feeling in the air?"

Feeling? Ruby frowned, and tried to focus on whatever it was Cardin was talking about… but… no, she couldn't feel anything, whatever-

 _Wait._

There was something there… it… it wasn't a feeling. She could _see_ something. It was like, a disruption in the air, a river of _something_ moving down the hallway.

She chanced a look at Cardin, but from the looks of it he couldn't see what she was seeing.

Was it… was it because of her eyes?

She shook her head, it didn't matter right now.

"There's something," she confirmed. "But I can't tell what it is."

"Neither can I," he growled. "And that's the problem. We don't know what's up there."

"Well we're not going to at this rate. Whatever's there, we're going to have to deal with anyway so let's just go before something goes wrong."

Another growl before Cardin unsheathed the sword at his side, the silver glinting.

"Fine, lets hurry and get this over with."

She nodded, and followed the bigger man as he hurried the rest of the way, the closer they got the more of the waves she could see, and soon there was noise as well, a snarling, Goblins screeching and groning to each other in the distance.

Ruby saw the end of the hallway, and gripped her dagger tighter.

Ready.

Ready.

There, up ahead something was moving!

"The nest." Cardin gasped, and Ruby could only stare.

She didn't know what to say. It was… it was like a beehive, but a rotting one, one that was half turned to sludge and was collapsing in on itself, it was a sickly yellow colour and the stench was horrific. Like rotting flesh. What was worse was that Ruby knew that it probably was; did goblins bury their dead? Did hey eat them or just ignore them entirely?

And the best part?

It was over ten meters tall and twice that wide. It was like a network of miniature caverns.

"Shit, I didn't think it would be this big." Cardin breathed through clenched teeth. "We better hurry."

"How do we deal with this?" she asked.

"Burn it," he answered. "Once the nest is gone the goblins will either run or fight amongst themselves."

"That sounds easy. It's not though right?"

"No… one the flames touch the nest they'll know we're here… get ready for a fight."

She nodded, raising the knife to clutch against her chest.

Cardin made his way over to the base, and reached into a pocket she couldn't see, but she recognised the thing he pulled out: it was a scroll, yellowed parchment topped with wood. He unfurled it, and Ruby could see even from a few feet away the intersected symbols in red… that was dust coated ink.

He set it down on top of the nest and ran a hand over the seal once before backing away. The symbol glowed for a moment, before it burst into flames.

There was a terrifying cry.

Ruby heard the scratching on gnarled feet as there was suddenly movements from the caverns and she leapt back as a clawed hand reached for her.

Like a dam the goblins burst from the nest, dozens of them biting and snarling.

"Don't let them put out the fire!" Cardin barked, before be leapt at them.

Ruby followed suit, stabbing at the horde of monsters in front of her.

She stepped to the side, twisting as the body fell and leapt forward. There were so many of them.

Slash, a limb flew.

Stab, a body fell.

She slid under a swipe that would have hit her head and sprinted forward in a flurry of rose petals.

Ruby's eyes were focused entirely on what she was doing, each movement taking into account her strength and speed.

The dagger wasn't like her scythe: with such a short reach she needed to be careful, but she could tell why it was so short; silver was wasn't like steel or iron. It was softer, unfit for combat against a real weapon, and so ferocious attacks were needed. The shortened distance made it so that speed was used to the advantage of the wielder, while physical power was thrown aside.

It wasn't needed, no when the silver blade cut through these goblins flesh like a hot knife through butter, better than her scythe ever could, the bodies practically dissolved under the dagger, and Ruby could smell the burning not just from the burning nest but from the monsters themselves.

Their screams filled the room, and suddenly there was a canopy of savage roars.

"I've got the hobgoblins!" Cardin called over the cries.

"AS in plural!?" she gasped, before nearly stumbling to dodge a particularly wily goblin that had lunged at her. She couldn't worry about Cardin right now, she needed to trust he could look after himself and keep these thing away from him.

She jumped up, kicking out with one foot that collided squarely on a goblins jaw, and its teeth went flying.

So did Cardin. She saw it out of the corner of her eye, the bigger huntsmen in training barely got his defence up before he was hit by a log of an arm and flew back. His aura flared as he hit the wall.

Ruby grit her teeth. He was up against three hobgoblins at once. She needed to draw even one of them off of him.

She reached to her waist, and the collapsable gears of Cresent Rose turned. She spun around on her heel, cutting through a group of them and opening up some space. She aimed down her sights and shot at the closest Hobgoblin.

The bullet dug into its shoulder and it turned to her. It only had one arm, it was the one from before, the cleaved limb already grown into a stump. Its eyes zeroed in on her and it bared its fangs.

It recognised her.

The beast lumbered towards her with a fury, abandoning its kin as Cardin got to his feet.

Ruby readied Cresent Rose in front of her, low ar her feet. She ducked low and moved in, under the Hobgoblins swing and sliced at its calf. She'd learned this time, and instead of expecting it to cut through, when it caught on the beast's muscles she pressed her back against the haft and pulled the trigger.

The recoil sent her spinning, freeing the curved blade for a split second before it became a whirlwind, rending the montes legs again and again.

It clawed at her, and Ruby winced as her aura tanked the hit. She ignored it as best she could and went in again. It couldn't stand now, giving her the chance to fight level with it. she shot at its good arm, the bullet skimming the first time, then piercing its hand it cried out.

Ruby jumped, twirling as she did so and ripping Crescent Rose down. It dug into the Hobgoblins shoulder with a sickening splash of blood and it shrieked in pain.

It tried to shake her off but her weapon was lodged. She manoeuvred to its back, planting her feet upon it and yanking it back. The limb, the shoulder was severed in a spray of red as it gave a death rattle.

There were cries all around her, and Ruby watched as Goblins fled in all directions, desperate to escape.

She turned to Cardin as he finished off his own enemies and managed a tired smile.

"Well," he said. "That wasn't-"

That was as far as he managed as an entirely new sound sent earsplitting pains through Ruby's head.

Out of the nest burst a figure and Ruby barely managed to stumble back in time to avoid it.

She gasped as it landed in front of her:

A hunched, human-like figure, but with skin white as snow, sunken, eyeless sockets and blackened teeth, greasy midnight hair draping down its shoulders and clawed hands and feet… and worst of all, it leaked a black smog.

"Ghoul!" Cardin cried out in warning, even as he charged in to help her.

Ruby rolled to the left as it lunged, curved talons drawing sparks from where she'd just been. She scrambled to her feet and tried to make some distance but it was already on top of her again.

Ruby cursed. This thing was faster than the goblins, nearly faster than she could gods-be-damned see. It lashed out again, and the reaper brought up her scythe in defence. It claws scrapped against the blade, leaving a mark in the steel as the strength of the hit sent her back a few paces on unbalanced feet.

Cardin's mace swung in to make the distance she needed to right herself. He stood in front of her like a bulwark; massive mace in his right and silver sword in his left. He weighed heavily on one foot, when he'd hurt it she didn't know.

The room was filling with smoke.

" _Go!_ " he growled. "I can hold the bastard off for a few minutes maybe. If you use your semblance you can get away."

Ruby stared at him in shock before scowling. "Don't be an idiot," she hissed. "If you think I'll just leave you here you're in for disappointment."

The boy might have said something in reply but the Ghoul didn't give them a chance. It lunged like a cat, talons outstretched to kill.

Ruby anchored Cresent Rose in that same moment, firing off a round that sailed past as it twirled in midair to easily avoid. Still it came at them and Cardin swung high in an attempt to force it to the floor.

It worked, but it was too fast to do anything about it, and it struck Cardin's aura. He grunted in pain as it flared, even cracking a little.

Ruby baulked. Cardin had far more aura than her. If she was hit would her defence hold?

Damn it they needed to in it somehow.

A dangerous thought came to mind.

"Slow it down." She ordered, and rushed forward without waiting for a response.

She burst sped forward with rose petals, keeping low as the Ghoul saw her coming, retaliating but an effort to grasp her.

Ruby _dropped_. She didn't stop, or leap or anything else. She dropped like a marionette cut from its strings and let herself roll right past the creature. He body snapped to attention a split second later, plating her boot on the ground to spin on her heel she skidded to face its back, body crouched and low, coiled to spring.

It turned to her, as she hoped, and so didn't see Cardin's mace as it crunched into its back. It stumbled forward, knocked but not beaten it turned again to face its attacker like a wild animal, and Ruby lunged forward, in her left she sank the tip of Cresent Rose into its leg, anchoring it to the ground and with her right she stabbed through its left hand.

It was pinned for a second, that was probably all the time they would have.

But it was enough.

Cardin's silver pierced where its heart should be the instant after, and it sang to the floor.

There was no time to celebrate, and Ruby pressed her cap against her nose to block out the smoke that filled the room.

The ran as fast as they could, and by some miracle managed to make it out without any more opposition.

Cardin gasped great gulps of air as the stepped out of the building, and allowed himself to fall onto his backside.

The red huntress followed suit.

"Just a few goblins they said. It would be easy." He groaned loudly. "I'm going to kill them."

"Friends of yours?" Ruby guessed.

"Just people who should have had this info on lockdown."

He sat up and took another breath before glancing at her.

"…Thanks."

"For what?" she breathed heavily. The smoke had been a burning in her lungs, but it looked like her aura was repairing any damage It cause.

"For not leaving me behind." He said.

"Don't mention it," she shrugged. "No, seriously, don't. I just wanna forget tonight."

Cardin laughed at that.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The next day was a slow one. Ruby had somehow managed to get back to Beacon, slip into her room without being noticed and get an acceptable amount of sleep before morning. Her team were all awake, laughing and chatting with a leaderless team JNPR. Moaning about their detention the other day.

Ruby didn't even notice the strange looks her sister was giving Blake.

So there they were, at breakfast, eating and generally just enjoying the piece when a crash could be heard. All heads turned to Cardin the bully – accompanied by his team – standing a head taller than Jaune, with a scattered try of food on the floor. He stood there, arrogant and cruel and nothing like he had been last night.

To have seen both sides of him, Ruby could see now that it was unnatural to him. How had she missed that before?

There was something new though.

Jaune wasn't cowering.

"What did you say to me blondie."

He growled.

"I said enough _Cardin!_ " Jaune growled back.

 _Jaune!_

His fists were clenched and his shoulder squared. He was shaking, but Ruby couldn't tell if it was from fear or anger.

"I'm sick of you acting like you're some punk, pushing me around and treating me like dirt. I sick of it and I'm sick of you! If you want to act like an ass and take out whatever issues you have with me in the practice ring, at least there you can prove you're worth a damn instead of acting like an asshole!"

Silence, the whole cafeteria had gone so quiet you could have heard someone blink.

Cardin stared at Jaune, before suddenly grabbing him by the shoulders and hauling him out, followed by his team.

Pyrrha and the rest of them made to move but Ruby held out an arm, stopping them. Her fellow redhead stared at her in shock but she shook her head. The champion tilled looked like she might force her way through.

The cafeteria fell into frantic whispers for a full minute, people wondering if this was the end of Jaune, before the doors burst open again, but instead of a blond beaten by Cardin, Jaune was lead back into the room with Cardin's arm slung over his shoulder.

The knight had an utterly bemused look on his face, even as the whole of team CRDL looked to have suddenly flipped a switch and laughed aloud as they sat down at the same table as team RWBY and JNPR.

Nora took it in her stride as was immediately laughing with them as Russel tossed her a chocolate bar as a peace offering.

A fast friendship there.

Jaune turned to his fellow team leader with a look that just said ' _I have no idea what just happened._ '

And over his head, Cardin turned to her, and winked as if to say ' _told ya'_

Hmph! Ruby snorted, turning away to reach for an apple, biting into it with a shared feeling of triumph.

Smug bastard.

* * *

 **So, yeah, I guess it's been a while since I've updated but life kind of made difficult, my times been focused on other things and I barely had time to write this in between.**

 **Anyway, that's the end of Volume one in its entirety and the transition to Volume 2 is complete. these next few chapters are ones I'm looking forward to, especially the dance and Mountain Glenn. Most of those scenes are already planned out, I just need to make it to them, so stay tuned for that.**

 **So what dod you think of Cardin, and the bits of background info I tried to give on the world? Was it any good? or too clique for your liking? let me know, and if you have anything else you want to say feel free.**

 **THat's all for now, I'll hopefully be back much faster this time, so anyway, if you have time please follow, favourite, and review.**

 **BYE!**

 **p a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	17. Investigations: Part 1

Blake did her best to hide what she was doing in her sketchpad, drawing sketches of former members of the White Fang, mainly Ilia and Adam.

She was in the cafeteria with her team, along with JNPR and the newly added CRDL. Which… honestly wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would have been. Jaune had somehow made a peace with their leader, and Cardin had instantly gotten chummy with Ruby.

…Okay, maybe not chummy. Her leader didn't do _chummy_. Blake wasn't even sure the girl noticed it, but she gave off more emo vibes than Blake did sometimes.

And _she_ was an ex-terrorist.

Well… still, they were at least a good attention to their little circle. They might have been a bit loud, but somehow, someway all traces of the bigots and bullies they were before had vanished.

Anyway, Cardin was practically a gentleman now. A little rough but still, compared to what he'd been like before it was a complete change…

Speaking of change.

Blake frowned behind her book as Yang snuck a glance at her for the twenties time since they woke up this morning.

Every so often the blonde's eyes would flit back and forth to Blake, and every time she did her eyes would flare red for just a second before she looked away again.

Had Blake done something wrong? She honestly had no clue. She'd been too focused on her own dilemma… or.. well, she wasn't sure what to call it.

Ilia was in Cale. So were the others in the White Fang and they were working with Torchwick. For what reason she didn't know but she could be certain it wasn't for any good reason. Blake… hadn't had doubts after their mission in Grainsal, but she'd hoped it was some rouge sector, especially after Sienna Khan's announcement on TV… but now she wasn't so sure. How many people had she called friend who believed in those methods? Yuma, Ilia, Adam? How many more?

She bit her lip, her eyes roaming over her sketchbook. She kept it hidden, and no one batted an eye –probably because they knew what her taste in literature entailed – but in reality it was notes she'd made on White Fang activity so far.

Every dust robbery by Torchwick or claimed attack by Faunus she'd jotted down, connecting the treads and possibilities… or… at least that was what she _had_ been doing. But now she'd run into a wall. It came back to Torchwick again.

Why was the White Fang working with him? What were they trying to gain from this except negative notoriety?

She didn't know, and it was frustrating her to no end!

And Yang was still looking at her!

She was about to call her partner out on it when Nora practically dropped onto the table.

"So are we doing it tonight?" she grinned. "I heard from Yand that little old team RWBY was having a party in their room!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "It's hardly a party and more of a team-building exercise.. I believe it was Ruby's idea." At that she nodded towards the younger girl, perhaps with a tone that hinted that she was impressed in some way.

The reaper shrugged. "It was just an idea. You guys are invited if you want, you guys in team CRDL too."

Russell gave a thumbs up! "Sweet! The Mohawk-sporting teen laughed. "We can sneak in a few drinks too."

"Please!" Ruby latched on, a little too quickly that it drew everyone's eyes.

"On second thought," Pyrrha giggled. "Maybe we should keep this a… clean type of get-together."

"Yeah alright," Russel gave in. "I'll bring something though. Hey Cardin, you got any ideas?"

The bigger man hummed, I've got one or two. We'll keep it PG of course."

Yang gave a thumbs up even as Ruby groaned in defeat and Nora giggled.

"Are we sure we are allowed to be doing this?" Weiss asked for what felt like just for the sake of it. "I don't know if the teachers condone… parties and the like."

Yang grinned. "Aw chill out Weiss-cream," she ignored the indignant spluttering. "AS long as we make sure to handle Nora we'll be fine."

"Hey!" the ginger huntress crowed. "I'll have you know that my behaviour is excellent." She emphasised the statement by slamming her fist onto the table. Unfortuanltyl it was just wood, and so snapped under her hand. A plank shot up.

Blake watched it in slow motion, as food was catapulted into the air, all eyes drawn to it as t complete an arc and descended again.

Right onto Weiss' head.

It was funny how such a simple action could spark complete warfare.

"Rrraaggh!" the food-covered Schnee screamed.

It was a flurry of chaos in an instant; tables went flying, food went flying, _people went flying!_

Blake was dragged down behind a flipped table used for makeshift cover by her partner as several assortments of gravy flew overhead.

"Thanks." She gasped.

Yang gave her a thumbs up. "No problem kitten." Ruby and Weiss fell over the table and landed beside them at that moment, the white-haired girl looking considerably furious.

"How's it goin' Weiss?" Yang drawled.

"Fiends!" the heiress hissed. "They somehow managed to build a fort at the other end of the room."

"It's been less than thirty seconds." Blake pointed out from sheer incredulity.

"I know!" was the answer. "We need a plan! Ruby!"

"What do you want me to do?" their leader cried "They have us outnumbered!"

"What?" Weiss asked, foolishly sticking her head up to see if it was true. A pie splatted her in the face for her troubles/

"Suck it Schnee!" the green-haired teen yelled from their battlements.

Weiss fell back, scrambled up, and grabbed a baguette of the ground as she leapt over the table.

"Die!" she snarled.

"Weiss wait a minute!" Ruby begged, dashing after her.

Yang laughed. "Well crap, guess Weiss snapped. We're outnumbered here Kitten."

Blake groaned, and not just at the nickname this time. "What are we even meant to do then?"

"Maybe we could help?"

The two remaining members of team RWBY whipped around to face the new voice, and was met with a familiar face.

"Oh, _Great_!" Yang cheered sarcastically, hands thrown up to the heavens. What was with her now? Blake wondered.

"Sun," she greeted. "You've kind of caught us in the middle of something."

"I can see that." The monkey Faunus laughed as more food battered against their cover, and in the distance Weiss' furious screams could be heard.

"We thought we could jump into the fray a bit," Sun said, pointing a thumb at the teen beside him. "This is my buddy Neptune, my partner, he just got here."

"Hey." The newly introduced Neptune waved, flashing them a smile.

Right, well.

"So you can help?" Blake asked. Call her what you will, she wasn't one to lose out on a clear competition.

"Sure." They said at the same time and she nodded.

"Right, well then, you two help Yang push up while I sneak around the side, I'll flank and you guys help Ruby and Weiss. Is that fine Yang?" she asked, turning to her partner. She saw the tiniest flash of red.

"Yeah yeah." The blonde said. "I got it, just hurry so we can back up my sis." Blake nodded, and grabbed a stick of celery to defend herself as she dashed to the side.

She nearly tripped when she took in the scene in front of her however; there _was_ a fort at the other end of the room, but it was more a mishmash of tables and chairs that in no way should have been possible to set up so in such little time.

Standing atop of it was Nora, cackling madly as she rained down watermelons of ridiculous fury.

In the middle of the cafeteria Weiss had made a stand, thrashing and roaring wildly as she beat Jaune with a baguette… that was something Blake didn't know she'd needed until it had happened. Ren, Russel and Dove were backing the blond up, and the heiress was only managing to hold them off thanks to her blood frenzy.

Further up Ruby was dealing with Carin and Sky. Her speed heling her with what looked like hit and run tactics; dashing in to splatter them with something before running away before anyone could catch her.

It was… actually going better than she thought it would be.

Or, that's what she would be saying, if Pyrrha hadn't suddenly entered the mix.

The champion was like a missile, barrelling into Weiss with a chicken wing in hand., sending the girl flying.

Weiss skid to a halt, and wielder her bread like a rapier, fending off the Mistralian's strikes frantically as she lost more and more ground.

It looked like Pyrrha was better in a fight even with food as her weapon, and as Ren, Jaune, Russel and Dove move in Blake thought her teammate was done for.

"Charge!"

Only to see her be saved by Sun, wailing strings of sausage as nun-chucks, knocked the members of team cardinal back, and they were quickly finished off but a pie throwing Neptune.

"We're here!" the goggle-wearing teen yelled loudly, wiggling through Russel's bread stabbing.

Pyrrha blinked, looking around in utter confusion.

"When did you-"

She didn't get to finish, as the yellow meteorite that was Yang smacked her with turkey cover fists.

"Back up is here!" she roared over the cried,, suddenly in a tangle with the redhead.

Then there were two. A moment of silence passed between Weiss and Jaune as the last members. The team leader began to sweat nervously as it stretched on and, slowly, Weiss raised her weapon.

Ajune ran way with a scream, the murderous Schnee hot on his heels.

Right, that only left her, if she could sneak around then-

"Hey Blakey~" came a menacing voice.

Blake turned slowly as the dread took over, and rose to full force as she came face-to-face to the monster that was Nora.

"How did you even…" Blake gasped, eye wide.

"You didn't think I'd let you sneak around did you?" Nora gigged. "I have all the training I need thanks to Ren. He's basically a ninja already." Blake paled as Nora hefted her weapon over her shoulder. Where on Remnant did she get a melon hammer!

For the rest of the fight. Chaos reigned.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby's eyes darted back and forth as the dangerous figure sped towards her. She raised Crescent Rose to block the jewelled staff as it crashed into her, and when she said crashed she meant _crashed!_

Her arms were rattled like the bars of a cage as she was thrown back. She gasped as she managed to land and was forced to the side as she blocked another strike. She ducked under a swipe that came far too fast for who the attacker was.

The reaper rolled, firing a few shots as she did to boost her momentum and managing to escape her opponents attempt to catch her.

Her curved blade came at the enemy's feet and Ruby prepared to let out a cry of victory as the attack connected.

Only for it to not.

Her eyes widened and snapped up to the girl who'd practically pole vaulted over her attack.

She wasn't prepared for the galeforce wind that blasted into her chest and sent her to the ground again. She didn't get up this time, as the tip of a red gem was pointed at her face.

She sighed.

"Okay, I give up Amber."

The half-maiden chuckled as she strapped her staff to her back and offered the younger girl her hand. Ruby took it, but felt the need to glower at the other girl.

"I totally had you there, you shouldn't be that fast!"

"Ha! Sure Ruby, I'll let you believe that for now." Amber said, looking and feeling smug about her victory.

"Well miss Rose is correct." Ozpin said, as he stepped away from the wall where he'd been watching their secret sparring match. Secret as in hidden from the other students that is, it wouldn't do well for all of them to see Amber at her fullest.

Amber frowned. "What are you talking about? I had that fight under wraps the whole time."

The headmaster hummed as he took a sip of his coffee. "Yes, and yet you shouldn't have; forgive me for being blunt when I say that Miss Rose is far more skilled than you, not just with a weapon but with fighting in general. There is a reason she is able to manage here at her age."

The maiden rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know Ruby's talented, but _I_ won."

"Because you were faster and stronger than you should be," He countered. "and not to mention you don't have to worry about draining your aura when using your abilities."

Ruby nodded as she listened in. it was true, at least from what she knew, Arua wasn't just something you could use as a defensive measure. Yes, it did that, but it also had another use; fueling a persons semblance. People without aura's and training weren't versed on the subjects, but the unique powers and abilities that Huntsmen and Huntresses relied on weren't an infinite resource, else they'd be used constantly.

They didn't just make a person fatigued with use but sapped away at a persons aura in small measures. Without aura you couldn't summon the raw power to use it. that was why when people's aura was broken they were forced to fight with the basics, sometimes less if the fight had been particularly nasty.

"Aura and semblances are a part of the soul, they are linked to that defined substance," Ozpin told them both. "Magic is something else entirely: it is based in the body, the physical body and as such can be used even after one's aura is gone. There are also some very attractive side benefits, that being strength, speed and stamina enhanced well behind what the individual would otherwise be capable of."

That last line was delivered with a pointed look at Amber, how broke eye contact with a huff.

"You are not as skilled as the students here Amber, you could not be with the minuscule amount of training you have, but that is the issue whether it is your fault or not. You rely so heavily on the power of the maiden without even realising it, and such lack of experience nearly lead to your downfall once."

Amber's hand came up to her face, trailing over the scars on her face.

Ruby frowned. There was no need to take the jab at her, even if it _was_ true.

"The fact you could not hold off three attackers with the full power at your disposal is telling of this," he pressed. "Not to mention the fact that neither you, Miss Rose or even Qrow can seem to recall their faces puts you at a disadvantage." Ozpin Paused to let that sink in. "These sparring matches are not to show off your make you feel powerful, they are to teach you how to fight, and to ideally help Miss Rose too."

He checked his watch. "However that seems to be all the time we have. Miss Rose it looks like your next class is about to start, you should be there."

Ruby looked between them for a moment, hesitation clear before she sighed and nodded, waving goodbye to Amber as she left. As the doors of the room closed behind her she heard the headmaster call out.

"Oh yes, and come see me later tomorrow. There is something very important that we all must attend to."

Well, that didn't sound like an ominous promise at all did it?

She shook her head, she could think on it later. Right now, Ruby had a much bigger problem to deal with, and as she came to the door to her room she felt her stomach churn with nervousness.

A scowl crossed her face. What was she doing? She was supposed to be a huntress, not some coward who couldn't even confront her teammates. With a final breath to ready herself Ruby knocked once and opened the door.

She was greeted by the three teams of RWBY, JNPR and CRDL all sat in a circle on the floor. There was music in the background from someones scroll and the TV was on.

Ruby took a last second to take it all in:

Russel had come through and brought something for them all to drink, some kind of sweet of fizzy drink, Ruby couldn't be sure, and the all-male team sat next to Jaune as Cardin teased the blond lightly. Pyrrha was in on it by the looks of it, going by the amused smile on her face as Jaune blushed.

Next was Nora and Ren, of course beside each other, and it looked like Nora had brought plenty of snacks for them to gorge themselves on all night. Blake was next with book in hand, although from the looks of it, it was just for show as she watched Nora be her usually bubbly self with a smirk gracing her there were the two new additions; Sun and Neptune laughed at the banter on team CRDL with drinks in hand and Yang sandwiched between them.

Her sister looked… a little uncomfortable by it but not too much, so Ruby guessed it was alright, and finally there was Weiss, sitting on the floor daintily, with back straight and an air of elegance around her, or, as much as someone could have sat as she was.

Weiss saw her partner and nodded. "There you are, we were waiting." She patted the empty space next to her.

"Yay!" Nora cheered. "We can get this party started then!"

"What are we doing anyway?" Ruby asked as she sat down, cross-legged and as relaxed as she could be.

"Anything!" The hammer-wielding huntress said. "Sky bought a movie down in Vale for us to watch, and we can play video games or do something afterwards. There there's all the food we can eat and-"

Ren shrugged as Nora rambled on, getting more excited as she did so.

Neptune grinned. "Wow, you've really planned this out huh?"

"Nora's always wanted to have a party," Ren informed. "We never really had the chance before we came to Beacon so we're both very excited."

"Yep!" Nora giggled.

"Alright then, I'll bite. What kind of movie is it?" Yang asked as she took a sip of juice from one of the open cans.

"Horror," he said, holding up the box as a few people cheered. "It's one of the new ones that've come out. I haven't seen it yet but I hear it was really scary."

"To regular people maybe," Blake said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm pretty sure Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't going to be affected."

"Then explain why blue boy is already shaking." He pointed out, and all eyes turned to Neptune, who was indeed, shaking.

"W-what?" he gasped. "I don't know what you're talking about! Who'd be scared of a little old horror movie, I'm not scared you are!"

Sun's forehead met his palm as he sighed. "Way to play it smooth Nep."

After that they all they dimmed the lights and put the movie on, huddling together sort of as a joke, but also because it looked like Neptune was a scaredy-cat.

Ruby had to admit though, it was actually a pretty scary movie, the effects were realistic, the music was eerie and there had already been one or two good jump scares.

Ruby was more interested in the effects than the story, but it was something about a group of serial killers in a frontier village, and the main characters were investigating the deaths. There was some kind of occult worshipping and sacrifices going on too.

Surprisingly Jaune didn't look scared., engrossed in the move that he didn't even seem to tice how close Pyrrha had gotten to him. Ren was of course as calm as always although he looked like he was enjoying it at least, and Nora was busy munching away on their food.

Russel, Sky and Dove were all enjoying it to different decrees while Cardin looked like he was comparing the effects to real life, which was honestly funny to Ruby.

Sun and Neptune were using each other as human shields to block out the worst of the scares, clutching each other desperately.

Blake being scared was a surprise though; it wasn't obvious but whenever the music kicked up for a tense scene she'd hid her face behind her book and pretend like she was reading.

Yang looked like she found the movie hilarious, or maybe she just like everyone reaction as she sat back against one of their beds casually and sipped a drink. She was grinning at it, and generally just enjoying everyone else's horror.

The grip that tightened on Ruby's arm reminded her of the final person in the room.

"I'd didn't think you'd be scared of something like this Weiss." Ruby whispered, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

It wasn't Weiss' usual look, eyes wide and alert as she practically forced herself to watch the movie, while both hands had a vice grip on Ruby's left arm. She scowled despite it.

" Don't be ridiculous you dolt. This isn't scary at-" she was cut off as a scream came from the TV asking her, and most of everyone else jump, and laugh at themselves and each other afterwards.

"Quiet you." The heiress warned her partner without even turning to glare. "It's not my fault that this is the first time I've seen a horror movie."

Ruby choked out a laugh. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Weiss frowned. "it isn't the sort of thing the Heiress of the Schnee dust company got to do in her free time."

"What _did_ you do in your free time?" Ruby whispered.

"Study," she answered as she took a sip of the drink at her side, managing to free a hand from Ruby's arm as she did it. Weiss grimaced at the fizzy liquid. "Either that or being tutored on finances, management and anything else I might need to lead the company."

"Sounds… rough?" Ruby hedged. She really wasn't sure what else she _could say_ to that, other than give her sympathies and she wasn't sure if Weiss would appreciate that.

"It sounds like that maybe, but, it wasn't." she said. "I never had any reason to think about it, and it wasn't like I had many people to spend time with if I had any free time."

"Weiss." Ruby whispered, but her partner waved her off.

"It doesn't matter, there's no need to think about that now. Let's just enjoy the rest of the movie."

Ruby wanted to say more, but she let it slide as the settle back into a lull, listening as the others tittered and chatted throughout the shows run time.

It was fun to just huddle around and enjoy a little bit of time wasting, and that time flew by so fast.

When it was over though, it just meant Nora got to start off a little game she'd been planning… with a twist.

"The… secrets game?" Ruby asked in trepidation.

"Uh-huh." Nora nodded, before hesitating and rolling her eyes seemingly at herself. "Okay well, maybe not secret-secrets but stuff about you."

Yang looked especially interested. _'I wondered why.'_ Ruby thought sarcastically.

"so how do we play then sparks?" the blonde grinned.

Nora bounced up and down excitedly as she explained.

"We all sit in a circle and pick something to talk about, like, our favourite food or something that we can all answer, then we spin the bottle and whoever it lands on is the focus., _then_ everybody guesses what it is. If someone gets it right they win the round, if they don't then the person picked wins.."

Pyrrha giggled. "Nora, I don't think this game actually exists."

"Of _course_ it does silly, I just made it!"

"Nora's got it into her mind that she needs to know as much as possible to make a 'friend circle'." Ren explained with a sigh. "I don't know what she plans to do with that circle but…"

"Alright, I'm game." Sun chuckled, getting into position. Everyone else followed after than and albeit reluctantly Ruby joined too.

Russel fished out a beer bottle from god knows were and set it in the middle. Nora rubbed her hands together.

"Well we'll start with food first then, since Nora used that as the example." Ren chuckled, swiping at the bottle lazily. It did its rounds a few times before coming to a stop at Ruby as luck would have it.

' _Well,_ she thought. ' _At least it's not a personal one'_

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Well this is an easy one. I'll go first; Ruby's favourite food is cookies."

The reaper couldn't help but giggle, just over the fact that Weiss looked so assured in her guess.

"Nope." She grinned.

Her partner blinked. "What?"

Nora gasped dramatically. "The turnaround! To think that Weissy would know so little about her partner! For shame. For Shame!"

Her outburst went mostly ignored.

"So it's something else then?" Pyrrha asked. "Chocolate maybe?"

"Nope." Ruby answered, smiling all the time.

"Ice-cream?"

"Nope."

"Cake?"

"Nope!"

"Cinnamon?"

"Nope!" Ruby snickered as they groaned. "Come on! I eat other stuff than just sweets."

"Well then what is it?" Weiss scowled.

She rolled her eyes. "Strawberries."

"Really?" Yang perked up. "That's it?"

"Yeah, I'd always choose strawberries over anything else no problem."

"Round one goes to Ruby!" Nora yelled, already reaching to spin the bottle again.

From there on the whole thing was hectic; the whole game was less organised and more of just a completion of who could find out the most interesting facts about the other. The innocence of it all was refreshing too., and eventually just devolved into talking

"So, you two are from Mistral right?" Yang asked, looking towards Pyrrha and Ren. "So, like, how's it that you act so differently, mean, aren't countries supposed to have like this, cultural flavour to them?"

The quiet boy raised an eyebrow. "You… don't know much about the other kingdoms do you? We're not that alien to Vale."

"hey cut me some slake, I've never been outta Vale, and besides, Weiss seems plenty Alien."

"Hey!"

"Anyway, you're right that there is a 'cultural flavour' as you put it, but it varies depending on how far you go into the wilds. I lived in a frontier village so I suppose we'd be more… rural."

"Right," Pyrrha nodded. "I suppose I never really thought about it but the city is a lot different then. I mean, my armour's simply the classic Mistralian design for about the last hundred years."

"It's part of the lead up to the great war right?" Blake asked, "Hey Neptune, you lived in Mistral too right? Where did you live?"

"Eh, I was fairly average all in all. My family ran a small business back home. When I signed up to Haven I didn't know what to expect for the most part. I guess that kinda meant we didn't have so much of the warrior culture as Pyrrha did."

They nodded in understanding.

"Well I guess we would ask in class," Sun offered. "That History teacher of yours, professor Oobleck? He sounds like he'd know a lot." The suggestion was a good one all things considered, asking a history teacher about history made sense to any smart person. Which was why the monkey Faunus was shocked when the residents of Beacon groaned.

"Please no!" Jaune cried. "Don't ask Professor Oobleck, my brain can only take so much."

A chorus of _'same'_ echoed around the room.

"I don't get it," Sun frowned. "What's wrong with asking the teacher?"

Cardin barked out a laugh. "Oh buy, let me tell you about how Oobleck teaches then blondie. You're in for a ride."

About an hour later everyone was still enjoying themselves, kicking back and laughing at each other's expenses good-naturedly. The food was almost finished and the drinks had nearly run dry.

"Hay I've been meaning to ask," Sun began rather half-heartedly, pointing at both Yang and Ruby. "You two are sisters right? Why do you have different last names? And like, look nothing alike."

" _Sun!"_ his partner hissed. "You can't just ask stuff like that! What's wrong with you?!"

"What!?" he shrugged, before it seemed to suddenly tig in his mind. "Oh crap! S-sorry! I didn't mean it like-"

"It's fine monkey boy." Yang laughed, rolling her eyes for the added effect of calming him down. "It's not a big deal… or… it is, but I'm not going to flip if someone asks."

There was a pause.

"So… why is it." the question surprised Yang, not because of what was said, but because it was Blake who did. The blonde hid a nervous swallow behind a laugh.

"What? Curious kitten? What's the saying again?"

"Ha ha." Blake deadpanned. "If you don't want to talk about it that's fine yang, I'm sure nobody would pry."

"They wouldn't." Weiss confirmed, sending a warning look at everybody else, who nodded in agreement. Yang felt a little bit of warmth at that, if not for them respecting her privacy then for Weiss being the one to enforce the idea. But…

"You okay with me talking about it?" Yang appealed to her sister. If Ruby didn't want to talk about it then she knew it would be a bad idea to ignore that in case she clammed up again. "We can just forget it if you want."

Ruby shrugged. "No, it's fine." That was all she said on it, and Yang hesitated a second longer before nodding.

"Well okay," she sighed. Turning back to the others, who looked particularly interested in the topic, especially their own team. "I guess the first thing to say is that our parents were Huntsmen. They studied here at Beacon way back. There was Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao-Long, Raven Branwen and Qrow Branwen."

Yang looked towards the ceiling and closed her eyes to concentrate.

"A while after they graduated I guess it was about time for them to settle down a little, get married and stuff."

"Right," Pyrrha nodded. "So, Ruby took your mother's name and You took your fathers, did something happen to make it like that?"

She chuckled at that. "Kinda; for starters my dad married _Raven Branwen_ first, not Summer." She gave a closed-eyed grinned. "I guess if I took my biological moms name I'd be Yang Branwen."

"Wait what?" Weiss squawked, it seemed like she wasn't ready to find out that there was some kind of family drama with the two sisters. Judging by her voice Yang knew that Weiss thought some amount of cheating had gone on, and that's why they were so tense with each other. Well, she was about to blow that out of the water.

"Yep, then right after I was born, I think… like, two, three weeks my Raven dumped me with my dad and ran away. No clue where or why but she was gone."

There was silence now, and Yang could feel the tares on her even without looking.

"So, two years later my dad gets together with Summer, I don't know who or when exactly but she'd been helping to look after for two years already so it was probably only natural they got closer. Ruby was born after that obviously. She got Summer's name and I got dad's. I didn't even wonder why. As far as I'd known Summer had always been my mom."

Ren nodded. "So you grew up with Summer Rose as your mother. Is that why they two of you decided to become huntresses?"

"I guess?" Yang shrugged.

Pyrrha smiled brightly. "She must be proud of you then."

"She might be." Ruby cut in, finally entering the conversation. "But we'll never really know… she died on a mission when I was five."

And just like that the champions smile was wiped clean off her face.

"I don't really remember much from back then," Ruby went on. "Mom went on a mission and never came back…" she frowned. "I can't… I can't remember her face. I can't remember her voice or really what she was like at all. My memories are all of really pointless moments… like, baking with her, or when she would read my stories at bedtime."

"Those aren't pointless Ruby." Yang whispered sadly. There wasn't much she could say other than sigh. As she looked around there was a sombre mood. Her friends looked at her and Ruby like they'd been dealt a bad hand in life. They looked at them with pity, and her own teammates liked like they wanted to reassure them somehow.

Yang hated it.

"Anyway," Yang growled out, to get their attention and finish this damn story already. "I found out later that my mom wasn't actually my mom and I'd been left behind." She glanced at Ruby out of the corner of her eye. "Then five years later Ruby disappears."

" _Yang._ "

"What?" she challenged. "I'm just trying to tell them the whole deal. I mean I guess I don't really know it, you won't tell me anything."

"You're right, you don't," her sister bit back. "And I won't, so leave it."

The others watched the scene in tense silence, as silver bore into red and red glared back. Out of the corner of her eye the brawler could see Blake staring at her sadly.

Yang broke off first. "Well I guess that's it then." She spat out. "That's the whole deal, sorry if it wasn't as cheery as you wanted it Sun."

"N-no that's fine." The Faunus assured. "Sorry for bringing it up."

The blonde girl shrugged. "I'm gonna go get a little air, tell me some funny stories about your childhood when I get back alright guys?"

There were a few mumbles of yes as she got up. Sun got up with her.

"Hey can I come with? I need to talk to you for a sec."

"…Sure."

Sun nodded, and as he left he grabbed a hold of Neptune, dragging him along too. they walked out the door a second later and Jaune sighed. "That was uh… pretty heavy."

"Are you alright Ruby?" Weiss asked, turning to her partner in concern.

The younger girl just waved her off. "It's fine." She told them. "It'd probably help to distract us all with something though… does anyone have any video games they wanna play?"

Nora was the first to take up the offer.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"So?" Yang asked once they'd cleared enough distance in the hallway. They were at least far enough away that they wouldn't be overheard, so she was waiting for either of the boys to start talking. She crossed her arms and waited.

Honestly she didn't know what this was about, but considering the whole problem she was facing with Blake she didn't-

Sun nodded. "Right, okay, so this is going to come outta left field a bit but… do you… like Blake?"

Yang choked on air.

" _W-what?"_

Sun didn' seem to notice her shock, or if he did he ignored it. "Well it's just that I keep seeing you give her these 'looks' you know? And like, after our detention together things have kind of been awkward so… I don't know, I wanted to ask."

Yang wanted to deny it instantly, to laugh in his face or tell him he was being ridiculous and imagining things, but maybe because this had come out of nowhere her mouth had suddenly stopped listening.

"I don't know alright," what was came out instead. "It's complicated. I don't want to get into it."

"No but this is great!" Sun insisted. Yang looked at him like he was insane.

" _Why?_ "

"Cause this means I can be your wingman!" he cheered, and effectively shutting down her brain. "This'll be great! Yeah, I can help you get it right and Nep can help too. right?"

"Sure." The blue haired teen laughed.

Yang was still in shock. "But… what? I thought – I thought you liked Blake too!" she was sure of it. what kind of guy helped someone get with the girl they liked? Was he an idiot?

"Well, yeah I do." He admitted. "But, I know it would suck to see someone you like end up with another person, and like, she's your partner so that would make it worse. Besides I think you're col yang, I wanna help you out, and Blake's awesome as a friend too."

He… he was serious. Yang stared at the Faunus boy in complete shock. He wasn't an idiot she realised; he was just a nice guy. Such a nice guy that he'd give up his own chance just so that someone he barely knew could have a chance.

She looked to Neptune for help.

"Don't look at me," he shrugged. "Sun's always had it in his head that he'd be the best Wingman. Now that it's in his head he's not going to let this go."

Yang slumped on defeat. This was actually happening wasn't it? she sighed heavily.

"Alright… so how are we going to do it?"

...

* * *

 **So I'm actually back a lot sooner than I expected but there you have it, on to the second Volume and covering some of the lore to to with Magic. While I don't expect anyone to sing my praises on the small changes or specific definitions I thin what I've mentioned about magic and semblances is better than what Miles and Kerry give us on how they work.(For as much as I love them they aren't really that good and creating fleshed out and detailed worlds.) But really that's up to you. Next Chapter we get into some even heavier stuff so I hope you stick around.**

 **Anyway, tell me what you liked about this chapter, or what you hated if that's your mood.**

 **This will be me for now, if you did like it be sure to follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Bye!**

 **p a treaon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	18. Investigations: Part 2

There was a commotion at Beacon. A big one really, that had everybody from the students to the teachers to even the civilians down in Vale looking up to the sky. It _was_ something to stare at to be honest; an entire fleet of Atlesian Battleships hovered above the school, signalling not only the arrival of Alas' students, but also their military.

It was a shock clearly, but the council must have known, otherwise there'd be people arming themselves in the streets. Doubtlessly there would be media coverage, but since news teams couldn't get into Beacon without permission that left people rather free from all the questioning.

Still, a force like this wasn't normal, and people could tell. Ruby didn't know how Ozpin was going to spin this but she hoped it was good. Then again… he was good at spinning lies, so this wouldn't be a problem for him.

She shook her head, now wasn't the time for that.

Right now she was making her way to the Headmasters office as per request of him yesterday. Whatever the wizard wanted to talk about must have been important, and if Atlas' military being here suggested anything it meant that General Ironwood was going to be here too.

Ruby hadn't actually ever met the General, just heard from Ozpin and her Uncle that he was in their inner circle, well, all the headmasters were, but him more than most.. so she knew he was trustworthy but not was he was actually like. Uncles Qrows descriptions of him were… less than flattering, but then again, most of Uncle Qrows descriptions of people were less than flattering, barring only a few.

Still, if he was here then it meant this was big.

Shame it had to come off the bat of last night.

Ugh! The whole thing had nearly been a disaster and it had been all her fault! It had been fun at first, in a way that had surprised Ruby a lot. She'd thought the whole thing would e a grilling from Yang but her big sister had let her enjoy the evening.

They'd played games, watched movies and just talked about each other. It was more than Ruby had gotten in a long time. It wasn't Yangs fault that she'd been asked about their parents, it hadn't been Yangs fault when Ruby had agreed to let her tell the story. It hadn't even been Yangs fault when she'd wanted to know the truth.

It was Ruby's for biting back like she had, for making the whole thing the way it was between the two of them _again_!

She sighed. It was like the two of them had taken one step forward and two steps back, and what made it even worse was that now everyone knew about their story. Sure they might not act like it changed things but she knew it would. It would be in the way they looked at them, how they thought of them.

Two poor kids who'd lost their parents.

She pressed her hands to her face.

She didn't need this right now!

She shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts as she stepped into the elevator leading to the top of the tower. She could hate herself later.

The elevated hummed as it rose and after a moment it dinged, the doors swung open.

The first thing Ruby did was notice the massive box in the middle of the room, the second was take in the number of people in said room:

There was Ozpin standing in front of his desk with his signature mug of coffee, Professor Goodwitch next to him inspecting what looked like a documents file. Amber was there two, conversing with one of the two newcomers; the taller one must have been James Ironwood, with his long white coat and rigid stance, not to mention a face that looked like it'd been carved from granite he looked just like the military leader he was expected to be, and the last one was…

Penny.

The other girl saw her first and smiled brightly. "Friend Ruby!" she called, already barrelling towards her. The others turned in time to see the excitable red-head nearly crush the reaper in a bearhug.

Ruby gasped as the air left her.

"H-hi to you too Penny." She managed to squeeze out.

"How kind of you to join us Miss Rose," The headmaster chuckled. "We were hoping we could get introductions underway, Amber has already made herself known of course." He nodded to the general. "I'm sure you've guessed already but this is General James Ironwood, the headmaster of Atlas and leader of the kingdoms military forces."

She turned to the man and did her best bow. "It's uh, nice to meet you sir."

The man nodded in return, approaching her in a few large strides. "And you must be the Miss Ruby Rose I've heard Ozpin mention," he smiled, or did his best impression of one, it honestly looked like it might make babies cry. Even so he offered his had, and she took it. the handshake was firm, if a little… cold?

"I've heard a lot about you," he went on. "Though forgive me for saying that I have a few reservations about recruiting a girl so young. I hope you understand."

"I do sir." She nodded for his sake. It wasn't an odd worry, and since this was the kind of organisation it was she could understand.

He smiled down at her again. "My you seem to be quite formal. I'd thought huntsmen here in Vale were far more… relaxed."

Her cheeks darkened at that as she scratched the back of her head. "Ah well, that might just be because of my partner, I'm sure if I wasn't she'd find out somehow."

He hummed. "Weiss Schnee, correct?"

She blinked. "Um… yes. How did you-"

"Her sister Winter Schnee is my right hand," he chuckled, no doubt sensing her surprise. "She often talks about her younger sister, and mentions that Weiss was in a team lead by a red hooded huntress.

Ruby seemed to turn even redder with embarrassment. "Weiss mentions me in her letters?"

They were interrupted by a pointed cough from Ozpin. "If you would, we have things we need to discuss now that we are all here."

Ruby nodded, stepping over to the side to allow the headmaster to take her position beside the General. He motioned to the box in the centre of them. Now that she looked at it a second time Ruby noticed that t wasn't so much a bock as it was a stasis lock:

It was rectangular, shaped like a long coffin rather than something for storage, and there was glass along the sides and top for them to peer in. Atlas Tech, she realised, build to contain leaking energy or anything else that might be dangerous.

What was inside however was most curious however: A crystal, about the size of Ruby's head sat in the centre, jutting out in a wild crystalline formation and darker than black, as in, it looked like it was _eating_ light instead of reflecting it.

It made her feel… uneasy.

Ozpin spoke at last once they'd all gotten a look. "This was delivered in secret by James here… from what we know no one has been able to report it before we repressed the information. I'm sure you have more to report however General."

"I do," the man nodded, hands folding behind his back as he spoke. "This specimen was found in Altor, our deepest mine in the remnants of Mantle, some three thousand metres below ground. One of the now former workers dug this piece up. Due to the poor lighting within the caverns and its similar colour he assumed it was Gravity Dust and handled it like you would regularly."

He sighed. "that worker is now in a mental institution due to exposure."

Ruby swallowed. That was… damn.

"My top scientists have been studying this piece as best they can, and have concluded that physical contact with the skin will almost always result in fits of madness. Those with aura seem slightly resistant but only for short periods of time. We do not know whether any more pieces have surfaced anywhere, but we are keeping a close eye on the mines for now." He glanced at his fellow headmaster. "I believe you said that you knew more about it old friend."

Ozpin hummed with a frown plastered on his face. "Indeed I can James." He stepped over to the containment unit, placing a hand on the glass. "This 'Black Dust' as your scientists have called it recently is crystalized magic."

Ruby blinked and Amber herself looked confused. "Um, sorry for asking but, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, simply put, it is magic that had leaked into the world and congregated in one spot. It becomes physical, and because it leaks into nature it takes the form of its wrath, of Dust." The frown deepened. "The darkness is as clear a sign as any that magic is dangerous, as are the effects of it. I would suggest sealing off the mine James but I know that would be for nought."

"You would be right," the General agreed stiffly. "That is the deepest mine we have, one of the pillars of Atlas' economy in recent years. If it was to suddenly close it would be a disaster."

Ruby could agree, and not only with the money involved. It was a proven fact that the deeper you dug underground the more dust you found, and the purer it was. Altor wasn't just the deepest mines, it was one of the oldest, decades spent venturing deeper and deeper in a way that machinery just wasn't capable of helping just yet. If they lost that mine all of Atlas would feel the pain.

Still, even though it was the truth, the Beacon Headmaster didn't look impressed, resigned, but that was about it.

"Indeed," he sighed. "However despite my disagreement with the General he has allowed us to harbour the Black Dust here. not only for safety, but to act as an advantage of our own a decoy of sorts."

Miss Goodwitch frowned, giving Ozpin a warning look. "Are you sure that is the correct course of action? I can think of a number of reasons two items should not be so close together."

Ruby looked between them. What were they talking about? Two items to- wait…

"Now Glynda, believe me when I say there is no danger of… cross-contamination as it were."

Ruby was staring at them wide-eyed now. They couldn't be serious could they? If this was as dangerous as the General was saying then, then…

The ageless wizard turned to Amber and smiled.

"Miss Autumn, while we are doing this… perhaps it is the time for you to see what it is that you're guarding.

Ruby could feel the air being sucked through her teeth.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The Vault. A secret level beneath the school, built into the very cliff and encased in marble and stone, green light emanating from the torches. Ruby had heard a lot about this place from Uncle Qrow, although this would be her first time actually venturing down here.

It took them two trips in the elevator, one for the containment unit and the other to bring everyone down. The whole thing was an experience unto itself. Whatever was in Ozpins cane also acted as some remote key that allowed the elevator to go down further than it was supposed to. Lot farther judging by the height of the ceiling.

You could have a battle of the gods own here. Or something like that.

Speaking of gods, the more Ruby looked at the chamber around her, the more it reminded her of… a cathedral? Yeah, it looked like some ancient place of worship with pillars lining the sides where the torches rested with some kind of green flame. Every so often third bee splitting intersection with unlit hallways stretching out into the darkness, and the marble floor was decorated with intricate and old spirals. They were… indicating to something, but from where she stood Ruby couldn't tell what.

Her eyes roamed up and down, as Ozpin and the General took the lead, with Miss Goodwitch and Amber discussion something quietly, it left Ruby to take up the back with Penny.

"So…do you know what's in the vault?" Ruby whispered to the other girl. She scowled at herself a second later. What kind of question was that? Obviously Penny knew there was _something_ down here, else the general wouldn't have trusted her to come with them. Was she just talking for the sake of talking now?

Penny confirmed that a second later with a nod. "I indeed know a few things friend. My father told me how the schools hold something very important within them. However he was not able to offer me any more data on the subject, and I was unable to find it anywhere else either."

Data… right, that was one way of putting it, and it really wasn't a surprise she Penny couldn't find anything, with Ozpin doing his best to suppress information like that she'd have a hard time finding anything outside the Odyssium. Still, it was good to know that Penny at least had a grasp on the situation, as well that her father did.

Speaking of which.

"So," Ruby began. "Your father, what's he like?"

Penny brightened at the mention of the man, a good sign maybe.

"Ah! Father is a wonderful man. Dr Polendina in one of the top Atlesian Scientists working under general Ironwood. He made me."

Ruby choked, then blushed red. "W-well yeah, I guessed that. Uh, Penny I don't think that's something you just say aloud."

The strange girl looked to her with confusion. "Why not Friend Ruby? Is it wrong to say that he is my father?"

"No, it's not that," She protested. "It's just not the sort of thing you bring up. That's… a personal detail about yourself."

Penny nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Well that's fine. I trust you with that personal detail as you call it because you are my friend."

Ruby paused, before a small smile graced her features. "Thanks Penny."

Yeah, Penny was her friend too, despite all the little quirks the girl had, she was too straightforward and honest to be anything else but good.

Ruby might have said more, but at that moment they came to a stop. She blinked and looked up. It was the end of the hallway, but there wasn't a door. It was a plain wall forming into an archway, and above that a stained glass window leading to nowhere. Again with the religious imagery.

Ruby wondered… just when was this vault built anyway? did it exist before the schools? After them? Were their people centuries ago that used this as a place of worship maybe?

"We are here." Ozpin told them without looking back. "Now Miss Autumn, if you would, follow my instructions; step up beside me and hold your arms out in front of you. I believe that even with the half of the power you have now it should be enough to act as a key."

Amber nodded, moving to do as she was told with a look of excitement on her face. She reached out as she'd been told and closed her eyes from a moment, before opening them again, fire licking at her left eye.

They waited, and waited, and waited in silence as the air seemed to still.

Suddenly, there was a rumble, and a low grown as the air in front of them whirled with light. Ruby threw her arm in front of her face to shield her eyes as it became almost blinding, and the groan became a whine, a gust of wind that pulled at her cape.

It didn't stop, but after a second it lessened enough for the young huntress to look again, and what stood in its place _definitely_ hadn't been there before.

It was a massive door, wide, and tall, tall enough that Ruby wondered if it had been built for giants. Its surface was a metallic green hue, a dull sheen radiated from it as strange black markings decorated the door.

"You certainly have a flair for dramatics," the General grumbled. "Is there a reason this one is summoned while the others are already corporeal?"

The headmaster shrugged. "A few. This vault was the first of the four to be built. I spent… a lot more time and energy on its construction. As to why it had to be summoned… there was another place I had wanted to store it but," his eyes flickered to Ruby for but a moment. "Plans changed some time ago."

Ozpin face gave nothing away.

"Very good." He said. "Now, place your hand on the door to open it, and see for yourself what is inside."

Amber swallowed, nodded again as she stepped hesitantly up to the door. What could she feel from it? Ruby wondered. It was clearly magic, but if it was magic that only reacted to the Fall Maidens powers, then how was that affecting Amber.

Her hand made contact a second later, and suddenly it flashed to life. Amber flinched and ripped her hand back but it was enough, Ruby felt the vibrations run through her as great invisible gears worked against her senses. The door hummed and groaned, pushed and pulled as it began to open.

It didn't open like a regular door, but from the centre, the green mental retracting like plated outwards until they could see inside.

Ruby forgot how to breathe.

It was a room, but to call it that was also a lie.

There were no walls, no ceiling and no floor. It was a room of pitch black darkness as far as the eye could see, which wasn't really that far at all.

But… there was a centre, of the room, of this… dimension, because there saw a golden pedestal, shining as if sun reflected off its surface. It rose to about waist hight, but it was what it held that had their attention.

An orb of light, an emerald that glowed bright enough to cast shadows from their side of the door. It was wrapped in a wreath, not of living leaves but lives of gold, a magnificent treasure of its own, but simply a symbol. The symbol of Vale.

This, was the Relic of Choice.

And it had a heartbeat.

It…. it had a _heartbeat!_

Ruby's eyes widened as she felt its pulse, the echoes of life from the ancient artefact of the Gods reach out to her. It was all consuming, as the sound of her blood rushing through her body filled her eyes.

Her arms tingled, her fingertips felt numb her legs locked and her chest constricted.

This thing, this beacon of power was- wait… what was…

Ruby's eyes narrowed. Was that a crac-

"I can tell that you can no doubt feel its power." Ozpin said, stepping in front of her, maybe accidentally blocking her line of sight. He looked unperturbed by it. Ruby stared at him. Could he… not see-

" _That's_ the relic?!" Amber gasped, eyes wide as she nearly fell back.

Ruby gave her a worried look. Was the relic hurting her? Was it-

Ruby made to move and try and comfort her obviously distressed friend, only for the headmaster to block her and sent Ruby a warning look. What was he doing?

"It is," he told her. "This is the key you have to protect. If our enemies manage to get their hands in this, it could spell the deaths of countless people."

His eyes bore into her gravely as he tapped his cane on the floor. Its handle glowed for a moment before the door closed shut behind them again, and disappeared. "You must be steadfast in your duty to defend it, no matter the cost. I will continue to train you of course, to your fullest potential."

Oh… Ruby saw what he was doing; cajoling her with firm words and playing to her fear, fear of what would happen if she failed, if she didn't do as she was told and people died. It was manipulation for the greater good, pure and simple.

It was… it was a good thing, but only by some sick sort of technicality.

It was wrong. Ruby knew it was wrong.

So why didn't she say anything?

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang took a breath to steady her nerves. She was standing next to the fountain leading to the courtyard. The sun was beaming down on Beacon even in the afternoon and the cool breeze meant it wasn't an unbearable heat. For a lot of people it was the perfect weather to just chill outside.

Blake seemed to agree; as she sat on one of the lower hills in the distance surrounding beacon. She sat in the shade underneath a tree and was engrossed in her notes, whatever they were. It wasn't a book, Yang could t least tell by the faces Blake made if she was reading anything adult.

The blonde had been standing there for the last five minutes, working up a plan of what she was going to say.

She scowled down at her reflection in the water. This was stupid, why had she listened to Sun and Neptune?! Just talk to her, yeah right, the most cliché piece of advice they could have given her. Yeah there were other things, like listen to her conversation carefully and offer to be helpful when she could but that was stupid already.

That was friendzone potential right there.

Gah! What was she even saying? Yang didn't even know if Blake would feel any spark of interest in her that way and she was already making up failed scenarios. Why was this so difficult?

Yang's features darkened as a frown took hold.

She knew exactly why this was so hard.

She sighed, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out an all too familiar box of pills. She popped one into her mouth and threw it back, grimacing all the while.

Well there was no point standing around, she might as well brace it.

So, steeling herself, she made her way over to her Partner. She stopped just a few feet away, her body casting a shadow over Blake.

"Hey," she grinned, while on the inside she kicked herself.

 _Hey?_ What was she thinking?! What kind of pathetic opening was that?! No, she had to calm down. This wasn't flirting, it was just a completely normal talk with her partner.

"What are you doing all by yourself?"

Blake didn't answer for a moment, but when she looked up Yang noticed the dark circles under her eyes. When had that started? She looked… tired.

"It's nothing," Blake told her. "Just… I'm just reading."

"I can see that, but this doesn't look like your usual smut kitten."

It was meant as a joke but when Blakes' ears flattened against her skull and eyes narrowed the blonde brawler could tell that there was something wrong.

"Hey," she said, sitting beside her and resting her back against the tree. She didn't fail to notice how Blake inched at the closeness but ignored it. "What's wrong? I seem… irritated about something."

"It's nothing." The Faunus girl insisted.

Yang didn't buy it.

"Blake." She pressed, one word, but it was enough to make her grumble. It wasn't acceptance so much as resigning to the fact that Yang wasn't going to let up. Not in Blake anyway. Ruby? Maybe, but only because that was a landmine disaster waiting to happen.

Blake sighed, allowing her blond partner to peer into her notebook. Yang stretched her body to read it.

"It's everything I've been able to find on the White Fang in recent months," she explained. "Every robbery reported on the news and every attack or threat they've ever committed on the people of Vale. I've been looking for days but I can't find anything that'll give me a clue to their objective here, or what they'll do next."

"It uh… really sounds like it's been bugging you huh?" Yang said. Blake might have given a laugh if it wasn't crushed by her scowl.

"Bugging me? No, this isn't some kind of hobby. This is my responsibility. The White Fang has been threatening the people of Vale and I need to do something about it. The people within the White Fang are misguided, if I can, I'll find a way to stop them."

Yang blinked. "Wow… this means a lot to you doesn't it?"

"Of course it does," Blake pressed. "Ilia, Yuma, Trifa, Ad-" she cut herself off and sighed. "I need to do something. But no matter what I try there's nothing to help me! Anny information that I might be able to use on tracking them down is either restricted by the police or classified by the council."

Now, Yang wasn't sure why she said what she said next. It could have been because she'd followed Sun and Neptune's advice to closely all of a sudden and tried to be helpful. It could have been because Yang didn't want her partner struggling with something like this on her own. Ir it could have been the pills having some sort of side affect to make her say something stupid.

"I think I can help with that." Once she said it it was out there, and before Yang could even lament her big mouth Blake had pounced.

" _Really_?!" she gasped, hands clasping at Yang's orange scarf. "You're serious? You can help me find something on the White Fang?"

"Well, not personally," she admitted as she looked away. "but I know a guy who owes me a few favours. He's in Vale. I'll bet anything he knows something."

"Right!" Blake nodded, standing up. "Let's go now."

"Now?" the brawled blanched.

"Now!"

Yang knew it was basically her own fault, but she was going to kill Sun.

That was how Yang ended up mourning the loss of the rest of her day as they trekked down to the City. It was just the two of them, and with the specific location being on the other side of town it left a lot of silence that had to be filled, even with crowds of people around them.

"So who is this person you know?" Blake asked as they walked side by side. "you said he owes you a favour?"

"Uh, yeah. His names Junior. Or at least that' what everybody calls him. I've told you about this already right? I could have sworn I did. Anyway, he's the owner of the Club, you know, that really high class joint with the pretentious name?"

Blake nodded. "I do, his business is very popular with young rich kids looking to party apparently, he makes a lot of money from them."

"Yeah, well on top of that he's got a little side job as an info Broker. And as far as I know he has his guys act as hired thugs sometimes if people pay enough."

"What?" Blake stared. "If you know about this why haven't you reported it to the police?"

Yang raised an eyebrow as if to ask if she was serious, when she realised Blake was she rolled her eyes.

"Because the cops already know. What are they going to do? Information's a pretty hard thing to convict someone of, and even if they did Junior has enough contacts that he wouldn't land in prison for it. Besides, we're going to use him too, remember? He's no use to us behind bars. Not to mention that dancing in his club is always fun."

Blake slumped in defeat. "You're right, not just about his usefulness. I bet his club means he can attract all sorts of people. I bet you find all sorts of people."

Yang blinked. "Whats that supposed to mean."

"Oh, well um, it just seems like you're the type of person that um… can find a relationship easy enough I guess. I mean, you're attractive enough."

Yang's stomach did a flip but she shrugged it off as best she could, "Well I'll take that as a complement, even if it isn't true."

"Huh?"

Yang flinched and cursed her big mouth. Seriously, that was the second time now.

"Well it's just that uh… I've never really been in an actual _relationship_ per say."

"Really?" Blake asked, her tone saying she clearly didn't believe it. Yang wished this was something to brag about.

"Uh… yeah. I mean, I've been on plenty of dates with guys and girls before but I've never gotten past the third date before."

"Come on Yang, be serious."

"I am serious!" she growled. Honestly, why was Blake even asking? She was approaching so dangerous territory that the blonde really preferred to keep to herself.

Her partner must have noticed how much it was upsetting Yang because she reared back a little.

"Yang what is it, did I say something wrong?"

She looked away, determined not to delve any further, but she felt Blake take a hold of her arm, and when she turned to look at her partner she was meet with pleading eyes. Her resolve cracked and she snarled to herself.

"I've got issued Blake, okay? I'm fucked in the head and I can't hold a steady relationship worth a damn."

"What do you-"

"The doc back in patch thought I was faking it at first, or that I was just a kid being a kid. He was an idiot. Turns out losing your mom, finding out another abandoned you, having your sister disappear and your dad shut down, leaving you to deal with fuckin' everything is pretty bad for the head. I…"

Her voice cracked, and she looked away again. They'd stopped in the middle of the street now in a standoff. This wasn't how Yang had wanted this to go. They were meant to be a simple in and out, talk to junior, get the info and back to Beacon.

She felt Blake tug her.

"Blake what are doing?"

"Come one." she ordered, and didn't elaborate, but it became a lot clearer when the quieter girl dragged her partner to a café. A few minutes later they were sitting at one of the tables outside drinking tea, or coffee in Yang's case. She hated tea.

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Yang huffed.

"What are we doing here, shouldn't we be hurrying up to Juniors? This feels like wasting time."

Blake shook her head. Her eyes were firm as she gazed at Yang. "You're my partner Yang, and there's obviously something bothering you. We need to talk this out before we do anything else."

She scowled. "What's there to talk about? Everybody has problems, you did too remember? You still do, and as far as I can tell they're a lot more serious than mine, what, with terrorists and all."

Blake sighed, taking a sip of her tea to think her words through.

"And if I remember right, you were the first one to say you would trust me," she said, her hand reaching back over her shoulder to trace it. It had been as Ren had warned, Scars from the bullet wounds had marred her shoulder, but Blake honestly didn't feel bad about that. They were a reminder of what she'd done, and what she was willing to do for her team. "This is the same Yang, You can trust me. If you want this to stay between us then it will, I won't tell a soul, but you _need_ someone to talk to."

Blake reached over the table, holding Yang's hands in her own in a pleading gesture. Blake probably didn't realise what she was doing, but Yang just barely managed to hide her blush.

Fuckin' hormones.

But… Blake had a point, or many it was just the chance to vent that made Yang give in.

"Do you know what schizophrenia is Blake?"

The Faunus girl blinked. "It's a mental disorder that causes the suffer to be cut off from the world around them in some way, whether it's from delusions or hallucinations or behaviour. At least, that's the all I know about it. I'm not exactly a doctor and it doesn't tend to affect Faunus as much as it does humans… why?"

"Cuz I have it," Yang told her, ignoring the sudden shock that too over her partners face as she tapped the tabled rhythmically. "The doc diagnosed me with auditory and visual schizophrenia. I see things. Really screwed up things like ghosts and monsters in the dark that aren't really there. I hear whispers and voices of people I've never met and sometimes screams keep me up at night." She ground her teeth together.

"The idiot on patch couldn't figure out what was wrong with me for ages. I mean, even I could tell it wasn't normal. Dad took me to a guy in Vale after a while to see if there really was something. That's when I actually got told what it was for real. Apparent they reason they hadn't found it until then was because it's not constant," Yang explained. "they never actually figured out why, but for some reason the two kinds of hallucinations don't go together."

She bit her lip in thought as she tried to find a way to explain it properly. "It's like, when I slow down too much and have time to myself to think I hear the voices. It makes it a bitch to go to sleep by myself and I can't be alone else they drive me crazy. Then, when I get angry I start seeing shit." She spat. "Apparently my semblance had something to do with that. You know when I get angry my eyes go red? Well whatever it does it makes me hallucinated and I can't tell whats real and what not."

Yang stopped, waiting for Blake to say something, but when she didn't the blonde sighed, reaching into her pocket and taking out the box of pills. She set it on the table in front of her. Blakes' eyes fell to it and she gasped and lifted them to her face.

"Yang do you know what these are?!" she asked wide-eyed. "These are Benzodiazepines!"

The brawler raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't know about this stuff."

"I don't, but the White Fang used anything they could to give them the edge in any situation. But these… these stop you from feeling anything!"

"Yep!" Yang cheered sarcastically. "The only way not to have an episode is to take pills that somehow make me feel none of the things that trigger it. Thing is, because of my semblance it works differently, my body burns it off in a way that instead levels out my emotions. When I take these I end up somewhere in the middle."

. "So yeah, " she shrugged. "I'm an unstable, so bad that I'm too much for anyone my age to deal with when it comes to a relationship."

Blake was silent, staring at her lap as she thought something through. It was a minute until she looked up again.

"Does Ruby know?"

"Huh?" Yang grunted, looking up.

"Ruby, have you told her about this?"

"Of course not. When would I have brought that up with her? I wouldn't anyway, this isn't the kind of thing I want her knowing about." Yang suddenly looked panicked. "You're not going to tell her are you?"

Blake shook her head. "No, I told you I'd keep whatever you said between us and I meant it."

The brawler relaxed. "Well, alright then," She laughed, rising from her seat. Blake did the same. "We better get going already."

"Right," Blake agreed. She paused for a second and smiled. "And for the record Yang, I think anyone would be lucky to have any sort of relationship with you."

Yang tripped and spluttered, yet for some ungodly reason Blake forged on as if she hadn't noticed.

"You're confident, strong and brave. Not to mention that you're a good enough person to choose this life of your own accord. Helping people without being forced into it whether for greed or redemption is… something I admire about you honestly."

Yang honestly didn't know what to say, she insides were doing this weird stomach flip and she wanted to take the feeling and curb stomp it on the side of the road.

Instead she just laughed. "Laying on the flattery a bit think aren't you kitten? Never mind, come on, we should get going."

Blake followed with a nod, and if she noticed Yangs suddenly hurried pace she didn't say anything. Maybe it was a good thing Blake was tired, else she might have called her out on the many slip ups she'd made.

Course, not good for her actually health but still!

After ten more minutes of walking the made it to The Club, with the night just beginning there was a long line of people waiting out front, it actually went a block down. Junior must have been hosting it himself.

Good.

Yang felt a grin tug at her face as her eyes roamed over the people hoping to get in; it was filled with young men and women who'd prettied themselves up for a night of booze and dancing. A few of them looked awkward, a few looked confident and a lot more looked annoyed at having to wait in line.

Blake tugged Yangs' arm nervously.

"What are we going to do? I doubt they'll let us in if something like this is going on." She whispered, as if people would hear them over the music spilling out of the club. A few people in line had noticed them now as they walked past them, skipping entirely. They glared at them, some even specifically at Blake's ears. Huh… guess who wasn't getting into the place now.

The bouncer saw them coming, and saw him nod behind the red shades.

"Miss Xiao-Long," he grunted gruffly, but he knew to be professional with her. "Didn't expect to see you back here for a while longer, with all the huntress stuff going on."

She grinned and gave a wave. "Heya Cliff, good to see you too. Listen, you think you can let me and my partner in here?"

"Sure." The repose was heard by the people waiting in line and there was an outcry. The bounced winced before shooting Yang a deadpan look. "You did that on purpose didn't you?"

Her grin just grew wider. "Yep!" she made to move past him, Blake following, but as she did she grasped his shoulder and leaned into his ear. "Call Junior, let him know I need to talk to him. It's business stuff, the kind I need to be kept quiet."

Cliff paused for a second before nodding gravely. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll-radio, speaking into it. "Tell the boss that his favourite Blondes here, and she means business."

Yang chuckled, and patted his back.

"Thanks bud, have a nice night."

"Same to you, and try not to break anything."

"Hah!"

They made their way into the Club and were met with the flashing of bright light beat of music. The doors opened for them and down below they could see dozens of bodies mingling and dancing on the floor. In the light Yang couldn't make much out apart from their shadows, but it looked like people were already getting the party started. Blake shot her an impressed look. "That was pretty good," she said. "I didn't expect for them to just let us in like that."

Yang shrugged. "Yeah well, I used to work here for a while, and me and Junior are something of close companions so to speak."

There was the very apparent sound of a scoff as a familiar and positively bitchy voice rang out.

"Sure, as if Junior would call you friend Club Wrecker."

Another smile spread across Yangs face as the familiar sight of the Malachite twins greeted her. Dressed in their regular white and red as always they shot her a look that would have probably be considered irritated by anyone else, but the tiny curves of their lips let Yang know they were happy to see her.

Not that they'd ever admit it.

They didn't look much different than the last time she'd seen them, which honestly didn't surprise her, those two weren't ones to chang thier fashion sense.

Yang felt Blake tense beside her as she noticed their wicked looking weapons, but she hoped that her relaxed posture would let the Faunus know they weren't a danger.

"So," She said. "How have you two been while I was away?"

"Savouring the peace." Melanie quipped. "with you not here to drain our booze we've had all sorts of fun."  
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked sceptically.

"No." Miltia admitted.

"Miltia!"

"What? You said it yourself that it's been boring. All we've been doing is throwing out loser drunks who think their hot shit. Without you to liven things up we've been stuck having to make do with the boys here. and their too scared of us to have any real fun with."

Yang placed her hands over her heart. "Aw I'm flattered. Who knew I had such a special place in your heart?"

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Melanie said with a roll of her eyes. "Come on, Junior told us to come get you. It's business right? He's waiting in the upstairs booth."

Both huntress-in-training nodded and followed behind the twins. Blake leaned into Yang's ear and the brawler and to force herself not to shiver.

 _Fuckin' hormones!_

"So these are friends of yours too? how'd that happen exactly?"

"I beat them up." Yang told her casually, in front Melaine scoffed.

"Whatever, it was the one time. I bet you couldn't do it again."

Yang laughed. "Sure, I took on both of you, Junior and all the men in the Club. If you wanna go for a few rounds you can buy me drinks when I win."

Her partner raised a sceptical eye. "Something I should know about? You seem to be surprisingly comfortable with each other for people who fought."

"Oh, that's because the three of us slept together." Mitia supplied helpfully.

"Mitia!" both of them shrieked. She looked at them with a confused face.

"What? So the three of us had a threesome together, it wasn't _serious_ or anything."

"Did she now?" Blake shot her a deadpan look.

Yang laughed nervously and had to remind herself that this was basically all Sun's idea.

She was going to kill Sun.

They made their way upstairs and into dimly lit room. On one side was a blacked out window overlooking the dancefloor, and there were slick, black leather sofas and table. There was actually a goddamn hearth lined against one of the walls too.

Junior sat on the couch facing them with his arms spread wide. When he saw them he smiled.

"Hey there Blondie, I expected you back sooner, what, too good for little old me after joining Beacon."

"Oh nothing of the sort Junior." Yang chuckled, plopping down on the sofat opposite him. Blake sat beside her hesitantly, her eyes trained on the Club owner.

The older man raised an eyebrow as the Malachite twins took their seats.

"This is my partner, Blake," Yang said, answering his unspoken question. "She's the one looking some info, I told her you were the man to talk to."

"I am," he agreed. "Depending on the legality that is. Funny, I didn't think some goodie-two-shoes from beacon would come to me of all people, but we'll take about that in a sec, come on Blondie, what's been going on with you? This is your first time back in weeks."

"What, miss me?"

"Yeah, actually," he told her. "After you left some punks thought they could take over a part of my business. Without you here to scare em' off they got cocky. The twins set them right but it's still not good. You were good for my image, the muscle that knew how to talk some game."

"Well I've been busy," she told him, taking the wine glass that was offered to her by another guy with red shades. Her partner took hers gingerly, sniffing it as if to check if it was poisoned. Realy, Blake needed to loosen up a little. "Turns out on my first day I'd find my long lost sister."

Blake looked at her in shock, as if she was surprised that Yang would tell them, but Junior and the girls beat her in that respect.

"Seriously?!" Miltia gaped. "I thought you said she was like, two years younger than you, how'd she get into a Huntsman school."

"It turns out she's kinda prodigy." Yang shrugged, laughing when Melanline grumbled something about a troublesome family.

Junior leaned forward a bit. "So, how'd the family reunion go?" He saw the brawler grimanced. "That bad?"

"Kinda; turns out Ruby isn't the same girl she was before. She's uh… a lot different than what I expected, not to mention tight-lipped on what happened all these years."

"Yeah, well can't blame her for that."

Yang looked at him in disbelief but Junior just shrugged.

"What? It's probably something personal. People don't just give up secrets about her life story like that to people."

"But I'm her sister!" Yang protested. "She should be able to tell me."

"Well what if that's the point?" He shot back. "What is it's something she doesn't want you knowing because she's afraid you might be horrified, or that you won't believe her, or something worse?"

Yang slumped. She hadn't… she hadn't thought about that. It might explain the anger from Ruby when she tried to push it but…

"Let's forget about that right now," she suggested. "Listen, Blake and I need some information on a group that's been popping up recently. You think you can tell us?"

"Maybe, depends who they are."

Yang looked to Blake and nodded. The Faunus leaned forward.

"I need you to tell me if there are any leads on what the White Fang is doing."

There was a sharp intake of air from all three of them and they shifted uncomfortably.

"That's a pretty shady question," Junior muttered. "Listen kid, you don't want to get involved in all that. They White Fang are particularly violent in Vale."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Thanks, we might take the advice if it mattered. We already screwed with them before. Twice actually. You heard what happened at the docks?"

The broker nodded. "That was you? Tch, should have known. I heard there was a mess with Torchwick there. Don't know what you were thinking Blondie, the guy's dangerous, and not just because he had Huntsman training."

"Yeah well it's complicated, but if you know about that then you should know about what they'll do next. You do right?"

He sighed. "Yeah… I do."

"Then you'll tell us?!" Blake asked, nearly pouncing on the man.

He sighed again. "Fine, but when I'll tell you to stay away for a while got it? Gotta keep this on the down low." He stared at them pointedly to get the message across and when they agreed he went on. "Torchwick hired out some of my boys recently, they're still working for him for the most part, he doesn't trust the White Fang to do what he says you know? Not like paid help anyway. my boys answer to me though before anyone else, and one of them heard from some grunt that there was going to be a recruitment going on soon. Some kind of Rally as Torchwick shows off something big. It's tomorrow night." He handed over a card, it had an address written on one side to a place in the industrial district

Blake's eyes widened. "That's it! Yang, we need to-"

"Ah-ah,"Junior warner, raising a hand. "Don't say it in front of me. The less I know about your plans the better."

Yang laughed. "That's funny coming from someone who sells information."

"Yeah well this way I can deny it if things go bad. No go on, get outta here before a bar fight erupts from your presence Blondie."

"Alright," Yang said, as they all stood up. "How much do I owe ya?"

He shook his head. "Nothing this time, think of it as a congratulations for getting into Beacon, and a promise of a favour later."

She grinned. "Sure." She nodded to the twins. "See you girls' later, k?"

"Yeah," the red one said. "We can go out drinking again some time, and you can bring the sexy cat girl with you."

Blake spluttered red-faced as they left the Club.

A few minutes later they were on their way back, the street lights guiding them as they made their way back to Beacon. They didn't have class in the morning so they wouldn't get in trouble for being so late.

Yang cradled her head in her hands behind her head as they walked.

"So that was a thing. Guess that's mission accomplished for now right?"

"It is." Blake agreed. She paused, before turning to Yang.

They stopped.

"Listen, Yang… I… I want to say thank you?"

The Blonde blinked. "For what?"

"For coming out here with me. For helping me get out of a dead end and taking your time to help me with something you had no need to." She smiled a soft, but genuine smile. "Thank you, Yang, it means a lot to me."

Yang did her best to hide her blush. "Yeah, well, what are partners for huh?"

The Faunus smirked. "I don't know, you tell me. From what I heard, you were a pretty good _partner_ in bed. At least according to those two. Now wasn't that a thing to hear." With that Blake walked on, leaving Yang to stare in shock.

She didn't miss the extra sway Blake put in her hips.

She was going to _kiss_ Sun.

...

 **So I'll admit this one had some technical difficulties getting through. From my computer crashing constantly and losing entire chunks of what I was writing to not having enough memory to save there were a few problems. This might have come out yesterday if things had been kinder, but hey, it's here, a week after the last chapter. Honestly, if I can keep up a chapter a week I'll be happy.**

 **anyway, I went a little deeper into the things affecting Yang. Now I'm not a doctor, but I did some research to that I was at least able to get a semi-accurate explanation to you all. Be sure to let me know if you're a doctor as to if I got it right or not.**

 **Well, that's it for now, what did you think? Good? Bad? what did you like about it, what are your thoughts? Let me know. And as always:**

 **Follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Bye!**

 **p a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	19. Investigations: Part 3

.

"It's good to hear from you Weiss, I've been receiving your letters fine but it is good to see your face." Winter said.

Weiss smiled. She was in the CCT tower in Beacon, facing one of the many computers it had to offer for communication. There were a few other people littered around but mostly it gave her the chance for a private conversation. Weiss hadn't really planned the talk at all; but Blake and Yang had ventured into Vale for some reason and she couldn't find Ruby anywhere, so thought it would be a good idea to converse with her sister.

"Thank you Winter, it's good to see you too. how are things in Atlas these days?"

"Doing well," her sister hummed. "For the most part things have been relatively peaceful, although there have been stirs of…" the older Schnee frowned before shaking her head. "Never mind, but enough about me sister, you're the one at Beacon, tell me, how are you doing? Are you performing well in your classes?"

"Of course," Weiss smirked, flicking her hair back. "I'm the highest scoring student is nearly all of my classes, and I'm on a sure track to the end of the second term. I scored top of the class in economics, huntsmen politics, kingdom infrastructure, mathematics and Dust manipulation and understanding."

It was good news in Weiss's opinion, to succeed so well in one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Winter frowned however.

"Nearly? What classes do you lack in? It would not do for a Schnee to fall behind their competition."

Weiss suppressed a frown at the mention of 'competition'… Her classmates weren't her opponents, they were her friends.

"I'm not falling behind per say," She protected. "It's just that in four class there happens to be people with more… aptitude for it; Pyrrha Nikos outclasses everyone on combat class."

At that Winter nodded at least. She'd no doubt heard that the champion fighter was attending Beacon. What could you really do against that? Of course what was left unsaid was the fact that _technically_ Weiss also scored under the rest of her team. Yang being next to unbeatable in a fight with her peers, Blake having proven she was better than Weiss when she got serious, and Ruby had participated in far more fights than her, meaning that she scored higher.

Weiss was _not_ in the business of telling her sister that though.

"And the other classes? You said there were four, that still leaves three more."

Weiss perked up as a smile spread across her face. "Ah! Those honours would go to my teammates; Blake scores the highest in interspecies politics and relations, she has an invested interest in that, while History and Grimm studies are usually dominated by my own partner Ruby."

And hadn't that been a surprise, the fact that Ruby hated attending Grimm studies was clear, mostly because Professor Port aged them with his stories, but she was still the most knowledgeable of them when it came to Grimm. Perhaps the wildlands helped with that. History was easier to explain; Ruby was interested in it, and managed to keep up with most of Oobleck's lectures despite their speed, and used her own speed semblance to help. Weiss might have called it cheating if she didn't feel a tinge of pride from seeing her young leader work so hard.

Winter hummed again. "Ruby Rose correct? I haven't found much on her… but she is younger than the rest of you."

"She is."

"Be sure not to let that slow you down," her big sister warned. "I heard that she was made team leader instead of you despite her age, if her inexperience makes it an issue I can arrange for you to move to a different-"

"That's fine sister," the heiress interrupted quickly. "I am quite happy with my team."

Winter didn't make it clear whether she agreed with the sentiment, but chose to move on.

"Anyway, is there anything else you wish to talk about? What about the Vytal festival? Are you prepared for that?"

"I am, but mainly people have started to mention the school dance." She said. "Team CFVY just arrived back from a mission, they're second years, and I heard they were going to be arranging it. I was actually asked to help with the organising."

"That is good of them," Winter demurred. "It is a good opportunity to practice leading people in a working environment, but do not forget to keep up your training for the tournament, it would not do to be distracted."

"Of course sister. Is there anything else you wished to talk about?"

"No right now no," Winter hummed. "I will be sure to contact you if there is." She nodded to Weiss. "I must get back to my duties, stay safe sister."

"You too!" Weiss called as the screen turned to black, signalling the end of the call.

She let out a breath. That had been… different from what she had been expecting. Not terrible just… different. She'd _never_ been that firm with Winter before.

"Everyone else is getting to me." She muttered. Weiss would need to water herself. It would do no good to turn into another Yang. she shivered at the thought.

Speaking of Yang; it was likely they hadn't returned yet, and Ruby still wasn't answering her scroll for whatever reason. there were other people she could talk to however, and a few minutes later she found them after a trek to the sparing ring.

Pyrrha and Jaune battled on the stage, although it was more like a thrashing if she were honest. Jaune's face was flushed with exertion and he was breathing heavily as she pushed back with his blade, while the Mistral Champion still looked as fresh as a daisy. Upon the stands Nora cheered loudly, with Ren observing calmly beside her.

She decided to join them.

Ren saw her as she sat down beside him and nodded a greeting.

"Weiss." Was all he said, yet it was still technically a lot coming from him. Nora of course was his opposite.

"Hey Weissy!" She cheered loudly, even if they were barely feet away from each other. "How are you? Where's everybody else?

"Off doing their own things apparently, I thought I could watch along with you to pass the time."

"You are welcome to do just that Weiss," Ren told her. "Perhaps we could spar afterwards if you are feeling up to it."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "It seems odd of you to look for a fight Lie Ren. Should I be worried?

He smiled and leaned in a little to whisper, although there was no doubt Nora heard.

"It saves me from sparing with Nora. There's only so much running around a man can do with her before either their pride or their body takes a hit."

She chortled at that.

"Arc seems to be doing well for himself," she noted, and she meant it too as she turned to watch.

He was faster than before, still not to his partners level but still far faster than he had been. And he was managing to block a fair few of her strikes, even if his aura was slowly falling from the redhead's continuous assault.

It looked like all the sparing with Pyrrha was doing him well, although maybe not in the way the champion had expected: he didn't fight like her, an unstoppable barrage of attacks and perfect defence, but was using his size and bulk to his advantage, using what he had learned from real fights with the White Fang and Grimm respectively to get in close.

It wasn't perfect, but for as good as Pyrrha was she still needed a little bit of distance to use her spear, swing her sword or even block properly.

Jaune gave her none of those oppurtunites, getting so close that even fists were to needed too much distance, baring into her, forcing her back with his body and using the pommel and guard of his sword as a separate weapon.

It would work for a moment, and allowed him to score a few fair hits on Pyrrha, at least managing to make her aura dip were so many others couldn't.

That alone was impressive.

After a few seconds through the exchange would end and Pyrrha would manage to put some distance between them thanks to her superior skill and rain down blows that sent the boy reeling.

Still, it was an improvement that Weiss would believe astronomical if she wasn't seeing it for herself.

Eventually though, the match ended, and Jaune practically collapsed to the ground red-faced, gasping for breath.

Pyrrha stood over him, as Nora clapped wildly. Ren offered his own applause, and so Weiss did too.

"That was good Jaune," The redhead congratulated. "Those are some new moves you picked up, where did you come up with those?"

"Cardin… helped… me…" he gasped out between desperate breaths and groans. "Says… I should…. Get faster too."

He dragged himself up into a sitting position and took the bottle of water offered by his partner. "He said I should… get faster with my swings."

"You've been training with Winchester then?" Weiss asked as she moved down to the ring with his team.

He nodded. "Yeah, he's, like, really into helping me improve." He winced. "Kind of scary though, he's not a guy to go easy on me, and with that mace most of what I do is dodging and running away."

"That is nothing to be disheartened about," Ren reminded him. "You have a broad range of strengths, it's just a matter of finding or even creating a fighting style. Once you have that you can work on improving even more."

"Maybe…" Jaune sighed. "It might be easier if I could find out what my semblance is."

Nora rolled her eyes and still smiling, lifted her leader to his feet. "Don't worry about it, having a semblance is great and all, but you don't _need_ it. There are plenty of guys and girls who never find their semblances at all." She encouraged before adding. "If you really wanna find out your semblance then trainings probably the best way to do it, otherwise you'll just have to wait for the right moment for it to unlock."

Weiss nodded. "She's right, you just need to keep going. I unlocked my semblance after one day studying, while my sister gained hers during her school years in Atlas. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to unlocking them other than some kind of need. I'm sure that when you truly need it, you'll be ready."

"I get that," Jaune said. "But, isn't your semblance some kind of special case though?"

She hummed. "I suppose. From what I can tell the Schnee line has had a semblance completely different than any other, but we are the exception. Most semblances fall under a category of some kind. Like Xiao-Long and Valkyrie; despite their unique flair and visual representations like fire and lighting, they both have strength enhancing abilities."

Others might have speed semblances, like Ruby. All you need to do is experiment with new things and push on until your powers develop."

"I guess," he mumbled. He shook his head. "Your right, I'm just a little jealous but I'll get over it."

She nodded. "Yes, besides, Cardin hasn't made his semblance public, and if she can do well as a huntsman then so can you Arc."

"Why do you do that?" Nora asked suddenly, tilting her head curiously as she grinned at Weiss.

The Heiress blinked. "Do what? Had I said something wrong?"

"Well, not wrong, but it's just kinda weird; you always say our last names instead of our first, or, well in Ren case you say his full name because you know, they do it the other way round in mistral places."

"Ah," Weiss breathed. "I... suppose I do, do that… my apologies…Nora. It's just habit though, I was raised with the idea that I would be speaking frequently with company executive, you can't very well use their first names as you probably know."

"Hm…"Nora relented, or would have, if a sudden devious look didn't overtake her face.

"So then why do you always use Ruby's first name."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "What are you getting at?"

"Oh nothing," the bubbly girl giggled, though it was _clear_ she did mean something. Weiss wasn't sure what, or at least she hoped not. Nora continued. "It just sounds like you give Ruby the _special_ treatment is all."

Pyrrha put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide her laughter as Weiss recoiled in horror.

"Methinks you like her~" She finished in a singsong voice.

"D-don't be ridiculous!" Weiss snapped. "I don't feel how you are suggesting, Ruby is m-my partner, it's perfectly normal for us to be close."

"Oh I bet~" the hammer-wielding huntress snarked.

"Besides," Weiss said trying to salvage the situation. "Ruby's too young anyway, remember? Even if it was like you're saying – _which it_ _isn't_ – she's fifteen. Still a kid."

Nora rolled her eyes. "That's Atlas culture, In every other Kingdom as long as it's two consenting adults it's fine, and she will be next year." She laughed evilly. "and since she's related to Yang that means good things for you."

Weiss couldn't take it, listening to Nora's sudden depravity turned Weiss bright red. It was ridiculous, her and Ruby, her and… her and…

"And besides," Nora laughed. "If she's anything like her big sis it'll make up for your chest."

Nora was laughing as she said it, there was no malice in her words, which was why she wasn't ready when Weiss suddenly barrelling into her, knocking her over and snarling.

"I changed my mind!" the heiress snapped. Forget sparing with Lie Ren, I'll take you on!"

Team JNPR's laughter filled the training hall.

Although minutes later they were similarly filled with Nora's screaming as she ran from barrages of ice.

Wonderful times for all!

* * *

…

…

* * *

Hours later, Weiss practically fell on the changing room benches. Sweat was pouring off her body, and her breath was ragged, but even if her body as sore it was a pleasant feeling, the sign if a workout well spent. Pyrrha and Nora followed in behind her, chatting among themselves. Both had changed out of their regular combat outfits halfway through and into gym gear and tank tops.

Weiss might have glared at Nora if it had been an hour earlier, but between the spars and exertion her anger had quickly drained away. Now she just sent them a tired smile as they sat down beside her.

It stung her pride a little that neither looked as exhausted as she felt, but Weiss supposed that was to be expected. They bother were far greater endurance fighters than her. They were still drenched in sweat, though, so perhaps her pride could be saved.

Unfortunately for Weiss she didn't have any similar outfits, her own wardrobe seemed far less practical now that she thought about it. It was a surprise to learn that someone Pyrrha possessed several hoodies, maybe she should get a few too.

"That was fun Weiss," Pyrrha smiled. Perhaps next time both of our teas can arrange a sparring match together."

"I'll be sure to ask them when I see them" she laughed tiredly what time is it anyway? "

"hum, it nearly seven, they should be back by now surely, perhaps in their dorm room?"

"Probably." She agreed. I'll ask them later, but right now, I think I'll go take a shower, and sleep for a week.

They laughed at that, and eventually Weiss bid them goodbye as she made her way back to her room. She was surprised then however when the room was still absent. She shook her head, she could think about it later, right now she needed to get rid of the smell that was starting to come from her.

She walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her as she turned the shower on.

She stripped down as the steam filled the room and untied her ponytail.

She stepped into the shower, and let out a grateful sigh as the hot water washed over her. Her eyes fell shut as she tilted back her head, running hands through her white locks. Already she could feel the heat making its way into her muscles and felt herself relax. All she could hear was the sound of the water falling and her own breath.

Now this was pleasant she thought, feeling the grim from the day wash off her body, it felt better even now, just to feel her body relax in the heat.

Of coursed Weiss was a perfectionist in even this however, and reach over the side to grab the tools needed to scrub herself clean. She brushed it against herself, her skin clean and raw by the time she was done.

She let out a content sigh and stood there for a while longer, simply enjoying the heat.

Nora's words flashed through her head and she frowned. Her hands moved her chest. And she looked down.

Stupid, what Nora had said was stupid. Weiss wasn't flat, she just wore clothes that kept in hidden. She was a b-cup easily!

…okay, that didn't sound… argh!

No! it didn't matter, besides, Ruby… wore a corset… and she was still bigger while wearing it than she was without…

And now she was thinking of Ruby.

Damn that Nora, putting these thoughts into her head, , this whole line of thought was troublesome to begin with.

Pah! Saying that Atlas was the odd one out. Well, she supposed that maybe they were more strict with their expression still, after the great war they were still recovering from the regime that forced it's civilians to hide their emotions but… it was usually regarded that to be twenty-one before they could have any sort of intimate relationship.

The other kingdoms had gone much in the opposite way.

For Vale and Vacuo, it was sixteen as long as both parties were willing, while in Mistral it was eighteen.

Technically… it would be fine next year, since Ruby would be-

Gah! Why was she even thinking about this! She didn't like Ruby like that! She didn't!

Rose, she didn't like Rose that way.

Even as Weiss thought that, referring to her partner by her last name didn't sit right with her.

She sighed and closed her eyes, her forehead falling against the shower tiles.

The sound of the door to their room could be heard opening and shutting, signalling that at least one of her teammates had arrived back, although judging by the voices it was two. It also signalled that she'd had enough time in the shower.

Weiss gave a final sigh before stepping out, turning off the shower tap and wrapping a towel around her hair and body. She checked her scroll and blinked.

She'd been in the shower for nearly an hour!

She shook her head, she could berate herself for her poor time management another time, right now she just wanted to sleep.

She opened the door and walked back into her room, over to her bead. Yang and Blake were there, sitting on the Faunus bed and talking quietly, though when Yang saw Weiss she grinned and whistled.

"Looking good Ice Queen, you here to give us a show."

She rolled her eyes at that, content in knowing that it was just Yang being Yang.

(But also fairly pleased with the compliment)

"Where have you two been?" she asked instead.

The blonde shrugged. "We went into Vale to visit a… friend of mine," she glanced at Blake, who nodded in return. "in fact, we got something we need to talk to you about, I think you're going to wanna listen."

She hummed, wringing her hair with the towel on her head.

"Is it important?"

"Kinda," she admitted. "It's about the White Fang."

Weiss froze, fore whipping around to face them with wide eyes.

"What happened?!" she hissed. "Were you attacked? Are you alright Blake?"

"Hey! What about me?" Yang whined.

"If you were hurt I'd hear about it." The heiress scowled, before sighing. "But if you're acting like that then I'll assume you're both fine. What is it then?"

"We thought we'd tell you once we're all here." Blake told her. "We're just waiting for Ruby to get back. Where is she anyway?"

Weiss made to say she didn't know, but at that moment the door clicked open and Ruby stormed in. And Weiss did mean _stormed_ she didn't look happy, the only saving grace was that it wasn't with them.

Her face was pulled into a dark look, and her eyes were hard, shoulders stiff and general demeanour showing that she certainly hadn't been enjoying her day. She looked ragged as well, tired as if sparing, and her red cloak was ruffled, but she hadn't been at the sparing rings so…

When she saw them however she blinked and looked away, mumbling an apology

She made her way to sit over on the bed next to Weiss, who was suddenly _very_ aware that she was wearing nothing but a towel.

She really hated Nora right now.

"So!" she chirped with forced positivity in an effort to distract herself. "You said you found something on the White Fang?"

That git Ruby's attention.

"We did," Blake confirmed. "We got information from a source that told us there's going to be a Fang rally tomorrow night. We got the address here too." She handed the address over to the Heiress.

Their leader frowned. "You said a source told you this? Who, can they be trusted with something like this."

"Yeah they can," Yang told her. "They're reliable, trust me."

"Alright then, but first we'd need to know what it is we might be getting into before we decide anything," Weiss ordered. "Blake, have you ever been to these White Fang rallies?"

The ex-terrorist nodded. "A few actually. They're kind of like large-scale requirement meetings. A spokesperson would stand on a stage in front of people and explain what it was the White Fang was fighting for. They might mention a few missions they'd be doing and generally it's a chance to see just how many people are willing to join the cause. I was at the few of them but never gave any speeches myself. That was done by… nevermind."

She shook her head. "As for who'll be leading it? It… It might be a case of Torchwick being involved again, and if that's the case me might be at a disadvantage."

Yang flashed her teeth. "Ha! Says you kitten, I for one am lookin' a rematch. We've gotten better since last time."

"But not _that_ much better," Blake argued. "He beat us nearly single-handedly, not to mention he had that girl with him. And…" she looked to her feet. "Ilia and the others might be there too. if that's how it is we'll be severely outnumbered _and_ outclassed. We need a plan at least."

"Well, who said anything about fighting?" Ruby asked. "I mean, if we sneak in, maybe pretend to be potential recruits then we might be able to listen in on what he has to say. If we do that we can take the White Fang plans to the professors at Beacon, or the police." She looked at them. "Right?"

"Well count me in!"A fifth voice intervened.

All heads snapped to the window to see a familiar monkey Faunus in a very similar position to last time. What was different than last time however was Weiss' state of dress.

The Heiress shrieked loud enough to make him flinch and without thinking threw the wet towel she'd used for her hair at him. It hit him square in the face and he stumbled back, crying out as he lost his balance and threatened to plummet to the ground below.

"I got you!" another male voice cried, hand slamming down on Sun's tail in a desperate attempt to keep him up.

"Neptune?!" Weiss squeaked, face suddenly turning red.

This was _not_ what she wanted to be dealing with.

Eventually they managed to pull Sun into the room, Weiss had gotten dressed and Neptune had somewhat diffused the situation.

"So you heard all that?" Ruby sighed. "What are you even doing here Sun?"

"Well I just thought that since I was kind of a part of the whole crazy mess at the docks that I should help out here too." The blond explained reasonably. Weiss wasn't convinced.

"That doesn't explain why you were outside our window to hear it. what were you even doing up there? Why?"

Sun blinked. "um… it was just a… a feeling I had I guess? You had it too, right Nep?"

"Uh… yeah."

Ruby frowned. The Avatars were coming together. It was starting now wasn't it? Avatars were always drawn to others of their kind, and in such close proximity of a schoolyards distance Sun and Neptune were of course going to be dragged along with them… this could be bad in the long run, especially if more Avatars showed up.

This had Ozpins handiwork all over it, but she just didn't know _why._

"That's not an excuse!" Weiss growled.

"Come one Wiess, it's fine right?" Ruby protested, coming to their aid. "Besides, even if it's a little weird this does mean we have more people to help."

"We could always ask team JNPR." Yang suggested.

The reaper hesitated. "I think we should leave them out of this. It's not their fault but Jaunes not exactly stealthy, Pyrrha's too recognisable and Nora's… Nora. The only one that would be any good is Ren and I don't think it's a good idea to drag him into this alone. Besides, we can call them if things go wrong instead."

Her sister shrugged. "Yeah I guess so. You guys okay with that?"

The two males nodded.

"Sure," Neptune said. "Sun told me all about what happened last time. Maybe I can be a good partner and watch his back this time.

Ruby nodded and looked around.

"Alright, tomorrow we meet in Vale and head to the address. Dress as inconspicuous as possible, that means no abs Sun!"

"Aw."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Their plans were set in motion the next night when all six of them took a bullhead into Vale. From there they'd followed the address to the industrial district. It was mostly how Ruby remembered it from her last visit, empty, grey and a place no good law-abiding person would be at night.

They'd all met up, and Sun had done as he was told, wearing a regular shirt to cover himself up. Ruby had to admit… he looked weird without his chest showing. Still, they all had to make sacrifices.

Ruby didn't like the idea, but she'd been forced to leave her cape at Beacon, the item of clothing too conspicuous not to draw attention. Weis,, Blake and Yang had also changed their clothes, with Weiss being forced to wear a hoodie instead of the white jacket she'd wanted to wear.

White hair may not have been too rare, but it was still enough of a risk that the Schnee heir might be recognised that Blake insisted.

Apart from that, Sun had joked that they were wearing their 'alternate set'.

What was that even supposed to mean? They wore plenty of clothes! Well… Ruby didn't, she'd been forced to go shopping a few days prior for that exact reason. and… well, Yang like her outfit, she didn't see a reason to change it, then there was Blake who was… but Weiss…

Huh… why did they only have two different full sets of clothing?

"We're here," Blake said, interrupting her thoughts. The Faunus ran a hand over a wall, with three claw marks etched into it. she peered around the corner, and they say other Faunus entering a building, a man stood at the door, greeting people. "Come on."

The group of six made their way to the door, and, apart from an odd look from the bouncer at the absent Faunus parts from four of them (Which was thankfully offset by Blake and Sun staying in front) they managed to get in after being handed plain White Fang masks.

Further to the right was a large hall and a light at the end. A number of people could be seen going down. They followed suit.

AS they walked Weiss frowned. "There… are more people being recruited than I was expecting… these are all citizens of Vale? I thought they were better than most places when it comes to racism."

"They are," Blake agreed. "Honestly most people here don't understand what it's like, but they feel the need to be a part of something bigger. That's why rallies usually bring in so many people, and after they hear what they might be getting into most of them will leave. But some will still say."

She sighed. "As good as Vale is, people still suffer, and the council is less than willing to help with disparity among the Faunus population in case it created back-lash with the people affected."

"That doesn't make sense! Why would the council need to listen to what the masses say? They're the ones in control of the government and laws."

"In Atlas maybe," Ruby shot back. "General Ironwoods on the council in Atlas remember, and he leads the military _and_ the huntsman academy. Vale doesn't even have an army, and the council members here are career politicians before all else, so even if they wanted to change things, they're too cautious and worried about their positions to do anything real."

"I… never realised."

"It's fine," Blake smiled. "The fact that your upset by it means you care… anyway, lets focus, we don't know what's up ahead. We should spread out just a little, so at least if worst comes to worst we have the time and distance to react."

They nodded, and kept quiet as they stepped into the next room. It was a _big_ one, and Ruby suck in a breath at the sheer amount of White Fang fighters already lined up in front of the stage. Not to mention there were dozens of new recruits.

They were still civilians, even if they were doing some less than legal things. If Ruby or anyone else got found out here it could turn into a bloodbath.

Suddenly, a muscular man stepped onto the stage, a mask covering his entire face.

"Greetings my brothers and sisters." He bellowed. "We've gathered here today for three reasons; one, to meet each other, and connect with the people we will be fighting beside for change. Two, to welcome our new brothers and sisters into the fold and fight against those who would oppress us, and three, to let you see someone who has aided in our goals recently, and will continue to do so."

He gestured to the side, and Ruby's breath caught again.

"Roman Torchwick stepped into the spotlight.

There were gasps and jeers almost instantly, some shouted calling the thief 'human scum' and others simply growling.

Roman took it all with that smug grin plastered on his face like he hadn't a care in the world. Then, he slammed his cane down.

And all went silent.

"Well," he said. "Isn't this a nice little turnout, I have to say, it's _real_ inspiring to see so many people willing to _fight for the cause_ or whatever, but I'm here on business, so let's get too it shall we?"

He reached behind him, and without ceremony, pulled the curtains behind him to the floor. Ruby was separated from the others, but she was sure they gasped just as she did.

"As you can see, I've brought along a new toy for you all, and there's more where this came from. My employer got their hands on these babies a while back, and f your willing to fight for the cause, then this is what you'll be a part of."

Suddenly, the thief's eyes flickered towards where Ruby was standing in the crowd and his grin widened.

"But the details of that will be given out by your superiors, once we know all the recruits are loyal. Can't have any rats now can we? No offense to any rodent Faunus out there. Right now, I'd tell you to mingle with each other, get to know the people you'll be fighting with… I've got some business to attend to."

Ruby heard the cold rasp of steel behind her over the murmurs of the crowd and the sharp prick as it poked into her back. She inched her head to the side, and her eyes met a pair of pink and brown, with a face that was smiling with bloodthirsty glee.

Neo gave her a little wave.

With that, out of the sight of her team and the White Fang, the reaper was escorted backstage, where a waiting Torchwick lounged in a rather comfy looking chair that he'd probably had carried here. across from him was a similar one, where Ruby was plopped down in, Neo's vice grip on her shoulder.

"Red… we need to stop meeting like this, seriously, people are gonna talk."

"Uh… hey Torchwick."

He put up a hand. "Kid, call me Roman. Might as well after last time." He sighed. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods, you wouldn't be here to foil my dastardly plans would you?"

"Um… no?"

"Uh… then did you suddenly become a lot more sympathetic to the White Fangs cause? Because otherwise I'm running drawing a blank."

"Wel what are you doing here?" Ruby tried. "I know we went over the 'not revealing your plans thing' but what could you even need a paladin for? Those things are still in the prototype stage."

The thief chuckled lightly. "So you know about them do you? Why doesn't that surprise me? Whatever, sorry Red but I'm not at the liberty to say, my employer has me on a need to know basis… she's a bitch like that."

"She?"

Ruby could practically feel Neo's eye-roll.

"What?" Roman shrugged. "I'm just letting the kid know what kind of trouble she's getting into. It's better if she walks away from something this big."

"Somehow I doubt it's my biggest concern." Ruby glowered.

Roman raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Really? Then I guess you don't want to know how my employer can _control_ Grimm."

The thief had expected a gasp of disbelief, or shock like he had when he'd first witnessed it, or mire reasonably he expected little Red to think the whole idea was crazy. Who wouldn't?

He didn't expect the kid's eyes to suddenly turn fearful and hiss out a breath.

"Roman you can't! You don't know what you're getting into! That- that woman's dangerous."  
he blinked, and suddenly Neo was staring at the younger girl wide-eyed too.

This kid was in on it. No, she knew more than they did. How did a fifteen-year-old know more about this than them?!

"Oh?" Roman drawled, acting as if to brush it off, his poker face perfectly in place. "And what am I getting into little Red?"

"The end of the world!"

…What?

"She'll kill you!" the huntress went on, and would have jumped out of her chair of it wasn't for Neo's grasp on her. "She wants to destroy everything and once she'd done she'll have no need for you. You'll be dead in an instant. She's a monster!"

This was… this was big, Roman realised. He took a drag of his cigar to calm himself at the thought. End of the world? What kind of crazy shit was that? And what was worse was that when the master thief looked at the kid he could tell she was one hundred percent serious. She might be crazy, but then he'd have to forget the fact that his boss _was_ able to control Grimm.

And their standpoint on the world was obvious.

"I don't know kid," he pressed, pretending not to be affected. If he acts like he knew what was going on the kid might spill more, he just had to keep calm. "She may be a pretty bad person but she seems human to me."

Roman paused suddenly as a wave of confusion passed over the girls face.

Oh?

"You don't know." She gasped. "You don't have a clue who you're really working for! Your _employer_ is just one of her generals."

What? That… what was she saying? Romans mind was reeling, and by the look on Neo's face she was feeling the same way. Cinder was working for someone else? With her power? Grimm, generals, end of the world, what was this?!

Damn it he was in the dark on this!

"Generals huh? What exactly does that mean Red."

Ruby bit her lip, casting her eyes to the floor. She realised she'd given something away in her panic but when she looked back up her eyes froze the breath in Romans lungs.

That cold silver.

"You need to get out Roman, both of you do, before it's too late."

Heh… so that's how it was.

Roman tipped his bowler cap over his eyes as he stood up.

"It I thought I could Red I would, but that's outta my control now. Anyway, this conversation been fun, but we've still got some business to finish."

He twirled his cane. "I wonder how many of your little friends are here with you."

There was a crack of a shotgun blast suddenly from the other side of the stage.

"Why don't we go say hi?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake's eyes darted back and forth nervously as she moved through the crowd. This was bad, really bad.

How had Torchwick even gotten his hands on that thing? And there were supposed to be more of them? Blake had her fair share of experiences with the standard Atlesian Knights, but if the White Fang started using those things then they'd be even more dangerous.

They needed to regroup, she needed to find the rest of her team before they were found out. They'd been too sure of themselves, even with the six of them if they were caught Blake wasn't sure they'd be able to hold them off.

She made to move, when a rough hand suddenly dragged her to the side. Blake gasped as her back hit one of the buildings support beams and a blade was pressed into her side.

"Ilia!" she hissed. They hadn't been noticed in the crowd of people yet, but all it would take is one wrong move to be completely exposed.

Her old friend wore her mask, but even with it on Blake could feel the terrorists glare.

"I figured you'd be here," she growled. "You could never just leave things like this alone could you? Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

Blake made to speak only for Ilia's grip to tighten and the point of her whip to push harder, scraping against her aura.

"Shut up, I don't want to hear you speak. you betrayed us all, your brothers and sisters for these humans, whats worse, a Schnee! How can you even stomach it? to return here and act like we're the villains?"

"The White Fang is killing people Ilia," she hissed back. "Innocent people who've done nothing wrong. Are you seriously saying that's right? I know you don't believe that."

The chameleon Faunus looked away, but only for a second before she glared back even harder.

"You don't know me. You think you do but you don't you never did! I won't be persuaded by a coward who ran away from the cause, and sided with the people who oppress us." She pushed harder.

"Torchwick is going to want to hear about this, but I think I'll save time and just finish you now."

"Yeah, about that."

Ilia whipped around to face the newcomer, but was too slow to stop the fist that rocketed into her chest and sent her flying back, along with the crack of a shotgun blast for good measure via a fist.

She careened into the crowd, knocking some down and causing an uproar.

Blake turned to stare wide-eyed at a grinning blonde as she threw off her mask.

"You okay there Kitten? Thought you could use some help there."

Before Blake could reply Torchwick burst onto the stage.

"Oh for the love of- stop them already!"

Blake fell back to back against her partner and reached for Gambol shroud. She had no idea where the others were but from the cries it sounded like they'd already gotten to work.

"We're surrounded," she hissed. "We can't deal with this many of them like this."

Yang didn't look perturbed. "Don't worry, I've got a plan."

"Really?"

"Yep!" she grinned, cocking a gauntlet primed fist at the building support pillar.

Oh no.

Blake had approximately three seconds to regret all of her life decisions before the ceiling collapsed above them.

The White Fang cried out as rubble fell, and the fresh recruits did very much the same, fleeing as the sudden violence sparked. Blake couldn't tell if they were safe or not, but right now she had her own problems to deal with.

All she got was an angry scream before Ilia lunged at her through the crowd.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang breathed heavily as her crimson eyes flashed over the punks in front of her. Blake had been right, there was a lot of them, dozens surrounded her with teeth bared and hate in their eyes.

Fortunately for her they weren't armed. For whatever reason, they'd neglected to bring guns to the Rally. Was that foolishness or was something else going on?

She slammed an elbow into the face of a guy who got to close, and backhanded another who thought he could take her from behind. She ducked under a wide swing and lashed out with her boot, then her fist and sent five more to the ground.

She could do this, all she needed was for it to continue like this and-

A shadow flickered in the corner of her eye, then another, and another. They passed through the bodies of the White Fang members, who acted like they weren't there at all.

Because they weren't.

Yang grit her teeth. No, no, no, not now! Why did her mind have to screw with her now of all times!?

Before her eyes the air morphed into visions of people, transparent and watching as if they were alive. They distracted her, and Yang barely got her hands up in time to block a big guy with a hammer swinging for her face. It wasn't a weapon, it was the regular kind, and the handle snapped as soon as it hit Ember Celica.

Yang swore. She needed to focus! One wrong move or missed attack and she could be screwed. She called on her aura to protect her. Constant aura use was draining, most fighters didn't fight like that, instead timing their defense at the exact time a hit landed. She couldn't rely on that if her own _fucking_ eye were playing tricks on her.

 _Move!_

Her instincts screamed at her, there was something behind her, and Yang dived to the right as a thin blade stabbed past her throat. Her eyes met a pair of two different coloured eyes, and the face of a girl, who looked surprised over the fact that her surprise attack missed.

Yang lashed out with her left and followed up with a right hook. The figure shattered like glass, and appeared intently three feet to the left.

Yang remembered this one; she'd been at the docks.

Her name was… Neo, wasn't it?

The question was banished from her mind as the criminal lunged again with her weapon, the precision strike slipping through Yang's guard and scrapping against her aura.

The blonde growled through her teeth, firing off a shot at pinot blank range, only for the woman to bend so unnaturally Yang almost tripped. She flipped backwards, and caught the huntresses chin with her foot, knocking her back.

This wasn't good, she thought as she was pushed onto the back foot. How had this fight suddenly changed so fast? She was being beaten back like it was nothing!

She'd thought Torchwick was the exception, maybe the White Fang elites too, but just how many criminals were strong enough to take on huntresses?!

' _You're not a huntress_ ' her mind bit back. ' _you're just a student in way over her head'_

Her teeth ground harder. Damn it!

Suddenly there was a crash to the side, and White Fang grunts were trampled as the paladin surged forward. Neo took advantage of the distracting and ducked low, sweeping Yangs feet out from under her with a brutal kick to her knees. Yang cried out as she fell and only managed to look up in time to see a giant metal foot falling on top of her.

She stared wide-eyed and helpless when a hand suddenly grasped at her collar and yanked her to safety. Sun went tumbling at the effort, but managed to scramble up again in time to force the murderous woman away with his gun-chucks.

"Thanks." Yang gasped out

Sun nodded, and readied his weapon. Yang looked around and breathed a sigh of relief.

After the appearance of the paladin the White Fang had scattered, and all that was left was the six of them, the one that had attacked Yang, and whoever was driving the big hunk of metal.

Judging by the way Neo was grinning manically, sitting on top of the thing, Yang guessed it was Torchwick in there.

They circled the Atlas battle machine cautiously as it's red sights moved back and forth. Yang guessed it could see in nearly all directions thanks to all those cameras, but if they could hit it all at once it wouldn't matter. Right?

Ruby was ready it seemed, because she anchored her scythe into the ground and opened fire. Blake followed suit as Weiss summoned her glyphs to turn their ammunition into ice projectiles.

Sun and Neptune shared a look and nodded, charging in with staff and glaive at the ready. They leapt over the paladins swing and Neptune stabbed at it, his weapon electrified. It looked like it was able to scratch it but apart from that it went ignored. Sun tried to get onto the head but Neo suddenly appeared in front of him and booted him off.

Yang swore. This wasn't like the movies where electricity would short-circuit a war machine, and with amour who-knows-how thick they might not even be able to scratch it!

The brawler called out to her leader. "You got any ideas sis? We could really use them right about now."

"We need to slow it down!" Ruby answered as she reloaded. "But with Neo protecting the pilot seat we can't stop Roman from reacting in time."

Slow it down huh? She could do that.

"Leave it to me!"

Blake gasped. "Wait Yang don't-" it was too late to stop her as the brawled lunged at the paladin with her gauntlets at the ready. She skirted under its legs, and propelled herself into the air. If she could hit its back and keep it distracted then this could work.

She reared her fist back and-

Yang gasped as the things entire upper body did a one-eighty and blasted her into the ground.

She gasped as the air was driven from her lungs and the concrete below her cracked.

And then the metal fist crashed down atop of her.

Someone cried out her name, but she couldn't hear it over the sound of her blood rushing in her ears. It reared back, and battered down again. The ground gave way as she was hit again and again and again and again.

Yangs eyes burned, her mind burned her whole body _burned_ with pain.

And something else.

The metal fist came down again.

And was stopped.

There was the horrific screech of metal as Yang's fingers dug into the paladin like it was dough. She growled with all her pained fury as she rose to her feet. Her muscles screamed out in agony, her ears rang and her body groaned.

But she was forcing the paladin back.

In the corner of Yang's vision she could at insane criminal stare at the scene with wide eyes.

She could picture the panic on Torchicks face as she stared right into the camera.

She snarled, and with her free hand, grabbed the arm and with a mighty roar she _threw_ the machine over her shoulder to come crashing down behind her.

The brawler didn't waste time, leaping onto the cockpit and punching through it, she wrenched it opened and found-

An empty seat.

Yangs eyes widened as her head whipped around, Neo was gone too.

They'd… they'd gotten away!

She might have roared in rage if it wasn't for the sight of her team sprinting towards her.

With a sigh she hopped off the broken paladin to meet their shocked stares. Or most of their shocked stares anyway, Sun and Neptune looked like Christmas had come early.

Ruby was the first to speak.

"Yang that was… that was.., I don't even know what to call that!"

"Crazy? Dangerous? Incredible?" Blake supplied.

"All of that!" The reaper agreed. "And you're hair!"

"Huh?"

"It's… glowing." Her partner explained.

Yang blinked and blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah, it does that sometimes. Sorry."

"Don't be," Blake told her. "It feels… warm."

"Forget about that," Weiss snapped. "Yang are you alright?"

"Um…" the blonde began, only for the pain to finally set in, in full. Se clenched her eyes and groaned, falling onto her back. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

"You were hit by an Atlesian paladin, I'd say that's substantially worse."

"How did they White Fang even manage to get their hands on something like that?" Blake wondered aloud.

Ruby bit her lip. "I don't know, but we need to tell the Headmaster."

"Tell him what?" Yang sighed. "We barely got anything out of this. We know they have paladins, and that Torchwicks working for someone, that's _it_ … we don't know what they're going to do with them, where, or even when."

The silver-eyed warrior had to agree. "Your right," she said. "But there's no use sitting in a trashed warehouse now. Come on, when we get back to Beacon we'll bring you to the infirmary."

Her older sister sighed again. "Alright, let's go." She let herself be helped up by Sun and Neptune, who took an arm each for her to use as support.

As they left, Blake took one last look back.

In the chaos, Ilia had vanished without a trace.

This wasn't over, she knew. The White Fang still had plans

And she needed to be the one to stop them.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **Well that's it for this part. Investigations is finished, and now we move on to the part I equally dread and hope for; the dance. What comes next should be a little more relaxed than recent chapters, but stay tuned for a few new surprises.**

 **What did you think of this chapter anyway? Were there any parts you liked specifically? ANy you hated? Let me know.**

 **And as always, be sure to Follow, Favourite, and Review.**

 **BYE!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	20. Igniting the Spark: Part 1

**Just a little update, the cover art for this story will be changing soon, so that'll be fun. Apart from that I hope you enjoy this chapter, the next few hold a revelation I've actually been planning since chapter 1.**

 **More at the bottom.**

* * *

This was hel. This was genuinely the worst experience Ruby had even been through. Who thought up this cruel method of torture? Who was depraved enough to make this regulation? Why on Remnant had Weiss agreed to it?!

And why was she being dragged into it?!

"What do you think?" her partner asked, several strips of fabric in both hands.

Ruby looked up at her from her bed. It was just the two of them in the room, Blake and Yang having gone off to do their own thing somewhere. She thought she remembered her sister mentioning something about seeing Sun. were they a thing? She wasn't sure… but, right now there was another matter.

"What do I think of what?" she asked.

Weiss scowled. "The colours! What do you think of them? They're supposed to be used for the decorations. Coco asked me to choose one for Sunday."

"They all look the same!" Ruby said, and they really did! They were all grey, honestly, was it a rich people thing to see a hundred different colours when there was only one?

The heiress sighed in exasperation. "I don't know why I even asked you. Come on Ruby, can you at least take this a little bit seriously? This dance needs to look good for the students attending."

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno what you want _me_ to do. It's not like I know anything. Besides, I'm not going."

"Excuse me!" Weiss hissed, and the younger girl actually recoiled at the sheer venom in her partner's voice.

"What do you mean you're not going? Of course you are, you're the leader of team RWBY, it's paramount that you're there to represent us."

"And embarrass myself," Ruby groaned back. "I don't want to go to the dance just to sit on the sideline."

Weiss frowned. "You're being silly. Why would you sit on the sideline?"

The leader of team RWBY could only stare at her partner in disbelief. "Uh, because no one asked me to the dance? Duh."

The heiress blinked. "No… on one asked you? Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Who's going to ask a fifteen-year-old to the dance? It's not like I'm overly active outside of our friend group, and I'm not exactly looking to ask anyone myself. I'm too young for everybody else." She sighed "Look, I'll go okay, but, like, I'll just watch from the side. I'll cheer you on with whoever asks you to the dance. Is that fair?"

Weiss' frown didn't disappear, but she relented with a huff and turned. "Fine, but you better dress well."

Ruby groaned. "Can't I just wear regular clothes?"

"No."

"You know, I _am_ the leader here, shouldn't my decision be final?"

Her partner shot her a baleful glare. Ruby sighed.

"I'll wear a dress."

"Good… now help me pick a colour."

"AGH!" Ruby cried, falling onto the bed.

"Just pick a damn colour!"

"They're all GREY!"

This went on for a while longer.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang made her way through the halls of Beacon. She didn't really know where she as going, only that she was looking for Blake. Her partner had looked pretty upset this morning and vanished without much to say. Yang wasn't sure _what_ she was upset about, like, they'd stopped Torchwick and the White Fang, kinda. Sure they didn't manage to catch them but still.

She'd counted it as a success, heck, she'd even gotten to fight a mech! She'd bragged to Nora about that one. The girl had been destroyed that she hadn't been there to join in and made Yang promise that the next time she went off to fight robots she'd tell her.

She'd agreed, although Yang wasn't sure she'd be doing it any time soon.

Now where was Blake? Sun might know, and he might be easier to find, or at least pick out of a crowd, but she didn't know where he was either.

Maybe she should ask someone?

"Hey, excuse me," She called to the next person she passed. "Do you know where I can find a guy named Sun he's got blonde hair, a tail, wears his shirt open?"

The guy she asked shrugged. "Dunno, I think I saw someone like that near the Emerald forest you guys have here. Didn't ask him why he was there though."

Yang nodded. "Thanks uh…" She trailed off.

The guy smirked. "Name's Mercury, nice to meet ya Blondie."

Oh? Yang smirked back. This guy suddenly seemed confident, but he wasn't flirting with her. She took a second look at him:

From head to toe he was dressed in black and silver, his outfit looked sleek and practical, he knew something about fashion by the looks of it. There were bullet casings wrapped around his legs, so something to do with his weapon maybe? She'd never met a guy with silver hair before, so what was the deal?

Again, he looked confident, but it wasn't in a macho way with a puffed chest and junk like that. He looked relaxed, lazy almost, but his face said he was ready for anything, that smirk had a dangerous edge to it.

Hel, if she wasn't interested in Blake Yang might have taken a shot at flirting herself.

She asked him that a second later and he shrugged. "My teams here for the festival. We got here a little late. We're from Haven."

"Haven huh?" The brawler grinned. "Then I guess we'll be fighting you in the tournament. No hard feelings when we beat you right?"

HeR raised an eyebrow. "Well somebody's confident. The Colosseum hasn't even arrived in Vale yet and you're counting your eggs."

"HA! Well team RWBY's one of the best teams here, I'll have to see you in a fight to change my mind."

"Yeah, well—"

"Mercury!"

A girls voice called out.

They both turned in the direction of it as a dark-skinned girl with green hair stormed down the hallway.

"Your girlfriend?" Yang chuckled.

The silver-haired teen smirked. "She wishes, but too shy to say anything."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Rally? With that glare she doesn't look like she's shy."

The girl in question reached them and scowled at Mercury. "Where the hel have you been?"

Jhe shrugged. "Takin' a walk, what, you got a problem with me taken a lay of the land?"

Her scowl deepened. "Don't be an idiot, would you come on, we've got things to do. Not talking to…" Her eyes fell to Yang, who gave a little wave.

"Hey," she said. "Names Yang.

"Yeah, Emerald, charmed, now are you coming are what mercury?"

The blonde laughed. "Oh yeah, real shy."

"I know right?" Mercury stage-whispered.

Emerald growled and grabbed her teammates arm, hauling him away.

Yang watched them go with a grin. That had been interesting, nice to know there were some fun sorts arriving at Beacon for the festival.

Now to go find Sun.

She followed the advice of Mercury and sure enough she found Sun, for some reason on the cliff overlooking the forest. Neptune was with him.

"Yo!" she called out, and they nearly jumped out of their skin.

"Yang," Neptune gasped. "Don't scare us like that so close to the cliff. Seriously."

Yaang raised an eyebrow. "What are you guys even doing up here? The forest is filled with Grimm you know? Not exactly the nicest place to hang out."

"So it is true, dan," Sun shook his head. " And I thought our school was crazy, you guys are right next to a forest full of Grimm!"

"It's no big deal," she shrugged. "They launched us from the cliff for initiation. Well… okay maybe it was a little crazy, since we had to fight hundreds of Grimm."

"Hundreds?!" the Faunus gasped. "You're kidding right?"

"Nah… come to think of it, I don't think they ever actually figured out why there was so many, and there were some big ones too; like alphas, giant Nevermore and an Ouroboros."

They two Haven students stared at her.

"Anf you say it like it's no big deal." Neptune deadpanned. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Well, it was eight of us fighting together so, and then one of the older students stepped in when it got way above the level first years are supposed to deal with. Why? What was your initiation like?"

Sun laughed. "They took us to the middle of the lake in Anima. There are a few small islands in the centre. We had boats that we had to sail back to the mainland and the first few teams to get there passed.

"It was _awful!"_ Neptune wept.

Yang laughed. "So, have either of you seen Blake lately?"

"No, not today," Sun answered honestly. "Why, you plan on asking her to the dance?"

"E-em, no," the blonde blushed. "I just haven't seen her since this morning so I was wondering where she got off to."

"Well, sorry, I don't know where she could be. But, who are you bringing to the dance then?did you not do well with Blake?"

"N-no, it's not that, your advice really helped actually."

Real?" Sun gasped, sounding surprised. Yang's eye narrowed

"Yeah, t did. Why do you sound so surprised? You weren't trying to sabotage me were you?"

Sun paled at the accusation and his partner stepped in to save him before he could make it worse.

"It's not that," he told her. "It's just that Sun's not actually amazing with girls. He's like, the greatest wingman ever, I know, but when it comes to doing it himself he's basically hopeless."

Yang deflated. "Oh," she grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry, guess I jumped to conclusions a little there but yeah, it worked."

"So, why aren't yo inviting her?"

She looked away. "I dunno, I mean what am I supposed to say to her? I don't even know if Blake likes that sort of thing shes always the quietest of our team, and I know that's not really saying much but still. Do you think she'd want to be dancing in a roomful of people?"

Neptune laughed. "Trust me, she would. All girls are different, but everybody likes to at least be _asked_ to something like is. I mean come on Yang, whats the worst that could happen, she says no?"

"Yeah, and then I'm stuck in an awkward position as her partner!"

The blue-haired teen scoffed. "no, it's _easier_ because she's your partner. If she says no you can just say that you wondered if the two of you wanted to go since you are partners. Besides, it's not awkward. The worst that'll happen is you'll feel a little bit embarrassed for a while and then you'll forget about it. It's not like you've got anything to lose."

Yang groaned. That was unfair, Neptune was hitting her with logic, one of her greatest weaknesses.

"Fine," she groused. "I'll ask her. _Maybe_ "

"What are you wearing to the dance anyway.

The brawler shrugged.

"I haven't thought about it. Maybe a white dress or something, I have one in my closet that I never got to wear. Might as well give it a try."

Neptune laughed at that. And laughed some more. And some more. YSun inched away as it went on, getting more brittle the longer it got until he sighed and smiled.

"No." he stared her straight in the eye. "This dance is your best chance at getting serious for ages, you need to sweep Blake off her feet. If it happens again you can wear a dress, but you need to woo her with a suit."

"A suit?" she blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah!"

"But… a suit. Are you sure? I don't exactly have a figure that can fit in a suit you know?" she said, gesturing her, ahem, assets.

He scoffed again. "Then you're clearly not looking in the right place.

She sighed. He really meant it, and the sad thing was she knew she needed his help.

She sighed.

"Alright, I know a guy who can help me with the budget… can you help me find a suit?"

Neptune's eyes lit p and he was beside her in an instant, grasping her shoulders.

"We are going to rule the dance!" he proclaimed.

"Right…" she gave in. "So, what do you want? As payment I mean?"

He blinked, "Payment?"

"Well yeah, I need to pay you back so we're even obviously.

Neptune hummed. "Well, you don't _need_ to pay me anything but… if we have time, could you teach me how to dance?"

Did.. she hear that right?

"Dancing? Why?"

"Nep doesn't know how to dance." Sun supplied helpfully.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," he slumped. "I just can't do it, my feet get all tangled up, but you go to clubs all the time right? You know how to dance."

"Well yeah," she admitted. "But the dance is in _two_ days!

"Then just teach me the basics." He begged.

"Fine." She huffed, but if we do this you have to really try. I'm not gonna waste my time."

"Thank you!" he said, shaking her hands. "Now first you need to go find Blake, then meet us in the courtyard so we can go to Vale and get you that suit."

"And I'll go too." Sun grinned. "besides, I need one myself for this thing."

"Who are you taking to the dance then Sun?" yang asked.

She shrugged. "I might ask someone later, but I just want to show up looking good, I need to upstage Scarlet!"

"Who?"

"Our teammate," Neptune told her. "the two of them are always trying to beat the other at something, ever since it all started when Sun told Scarlet that Vav from X-ray and Vav sucked."

"It does!" Sun growled, with more aggressiveness than Yang had averse seen from the Faunus. "Stupid Vav and his big nose!"

Neptune shot her an exasperated look. "So.. yeah, you better get to it."

"Right," she nodded, and turned to jog away. With one last look she smiled back at them. "See ya later guys!"

They waved as she left, and continued on her search for Blake. Maybe it was the first place she should have looked, but the library was her best bet. As to her reason why, Yang wasn't sure, she'd have thought her partner would want to take a break after all the craziness of the other day.

That was fine, she'd talk to Blake, invite her to the dance and if she said yes she said yes. Yang could think up the rest of her plan from there.

But when she arrived and saw Blake, she knew she'd been wrong.

Blake looked… honestly awful:

She sat hunched over one of the computers with notes scattered over the desk. Her ears were pressed flat against the top of her head and her hair was messy. She hadn't even bothered to maintain herself so she could get here faster.

Worst of all were the dark circles under her eyes.

Had… had Yang seen Blake go to bed last night? Now that she thought about it… had Blake slept properly in the few days after the night with the Paladin? She… Yang was usually the first one up to work out, but lately Blake had already been up before her. She hadn't thought much of it at the time but now… a frown set on her face.

Pushing the thoughts of the dance to the back of her head for the moment, and strode over to Blake.

The Her partner, usually so alert, didn't even notice her approach until she slammed her hands on the desk next to her.

She jumped and scowled up at the blonde. " _What?!_ " she hissed.

Yang blinked at Blakes tone but didn't flinch back.

"What are you doing?" she asked instead. "classes are suspended until after the dance remember? And if I remember right we don't have any tests coming up."

"Who cares about tests?" the dark-haired girl glowered. "This is more important than something that useless."

"And what exactly _is_ this?" Yang drawled.

"Everything I could find on the White Fang recently. Torchiwck said there was a mission they were going to be taking part in. something big if it was brought up at a Rally by _him_ specifically. I've been looking into any rumours I can find, from Faunus populations in and outside the capital."

"So… how much have you looked through?" the blonde asked hesitantly.

"just a few hundred."

"WHAT?"

Blake gave her partner a confused look. "What?" she asked back in kind.

"Balek that's ridiculous!" Yang gaped. "You've been doing all of this by yourself? That too much."

A scowl overtook the ex-terrorists face again. "No, what's ridiculous is everyone insistence to ignore what's happening. Do you think the White Fang are done just because we stopped a recruitment night?

"So? Can't you just enjoy the victory when we got it and relax for a bit?"

" _Relax?!"_ that was the wrong thing to say Yang realised because now Blake looked positively livid. "You want me to relax while people's lives are at stake?!"

"No but-"

"I can't believe you, you know what just leave me alone, I'll do this myself while all of you waste your time at the stupid dance. It's obvious you don't care."

Yang stared at her in disbelief, but that disbelief turned to anger as quick as her eyes turned red.

"Are you _fuckin' serious?_ " she snarled "You're going to tell me I don't care when I've stuck my neck out over and over again to hel you? I was fucking shot at Blake, more than once because of your group of crazies."

"What did you call them?!" Blake snapped, suddenly rising to her feet.

"I called the crazies, why, is that wrong?" she bit back. Why was Blake even defending them? Why was she getting so angry at this anyway?

The girl's hands clenched into fists. "The White Fang are misguided victims, not crazy! Maybe you'd see it my way if you actually understood their struggle, how humanity has treated them."

Yang scoffed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh yeah, because I'm going to listen to the words of murders. Not fucking likely. You can spout that shit all you want Blake, the White Fang is just a group of psychos who yous equality for Faunus as an excuse to kill whoever they like. Oobleck covered what happened to the Fauns, but maybe your people should work on getting rid of the psychos before pushing your problems on everybody else."

"Well you'd know all about being a psycho wouldn't you Yang?!"

"…" had she just-

"Y-yang I… I didn't-"

"Fuck you." She growled. "Actually go fuck yourself Blake. I can't believe I was actually worried about you. I was going to ask you to- you know what, forget about it. Don't go to the dace, see if I care."

"Wait, Yang just wait for a second please."

She didn't, Yang turned away from her so-called partner and stormed out of the library, ignoring Blakes please to stop.

Of course this had happened, what had she been thinking? Blake only cared about one thing, and the worse part was it wasn't even herself. Yang didn't need that, fuck that!

Now where the hel was Sun and Neptune? She needed to forget about this mess.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"So Mercury, is there a reason you have wasted my time with your little tour of the school?" a calm voice asked from the end of the bed.

Golden eyes burned through the silver-haired teen, even if his own were focused on the floor he could feel them on him. Three people inhabited the exchange student room. They _were_ students, at least as far as Beacon was concerned, but in reality… he swallowed

"I was just getting a lay of the land Cinder. I wanted to make sure I know exactly what I'm dealing with. Assassins preparedness, you understand right?"

"Oh of course," she agreed sarcastically, although it was more threatening since it was _Cinder_ doing it. there weren't many people you could light your insides on fire after all. "I will let it go this time since there was precious little lost, but do not make the same mistake again mercury."

"Understood." He bowed.

Emerald watched this all from the sidelines with a twisted glee. "Maybe you'll think twice before wasting your time on some blonde bimbo in the hallway Merc."

The assassin couldn't resist and smirked. "Jealous babe? Don't worry, all you have to do is ask and I'll pay you just as much attention. And by ask I mean beg obviously."

"GO choke on your own tongue bastard."

"Now why are you thinking about me tongue dear Em?"

"Enough." Their leader ordered. They quietened down, but not before shooting each other glares. Cinder frowned. This petty back and forth between them had grown as of late what more was the fact that besides how irritating it was to listen to, they also seemed to be less fearful of her words. Oh the fear was still their, the knowledge that they would be punished, but it had been lessened as of late.

She blames Watts. The man's pompous attitude irked her enough without the face he looked down on her despite the fact she had half of the maidens powers.

She could kill him. She could, but her disciples believed the two of them were equals. They were not. The idea was preposterous. There was only one person Cinder saw as her equal, and she was-

She shook her head, clearing those thoughts. Now was not the time for sentimentality.

"We will move on to business." She said. "The dance is in two days, we must prepare so that on that night thing go smoothly. Watts has supplied us with a virus that I will upload onto the CCT network the two of you will need to monitor the situation down below and keep track of all of the party goers. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am." They nodded in unison. Good. This would go off without a hitch so long as they fulfilled their roles.

"good, then the two of you shall go as the others date while I slip off. When I return I will take my place with you Mercury."

Emerald blanched, although whether it was because she would be close to Mercury of because Cinder would she couldn't tell. Emerald was terribly devoted to her like that. It would be endearing if it didn't get in the way so much.

Still, they would carry out their objective she was sure.

As for herself; she needed to finish this disguise first, and with it she should be free to move in on the night. If she met resistance she could easily subdue them. She had no issue with slaughtering anyone foolish enough to get in her way, but it risked bringing too much-unwanted attention to the school later, and if they were to retain their cover that would be inadvisable.

No, she would play I clean, stealthy and professional is she could help it.

Nothing was going to get in her way.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Oh! How about this one?" Neptune asked, holding up a grey suit.

Sun scoffed. "Grey? Really dude? She's not eighty. I thought fashion was your thing."

"It is!" The teen insisted. "But it's kind of hard to do that when _someone_ isn't paying attention"

"Huh? Wha?" Yang blinked.

"See?" Neptune sighed exasperatedly. "Come on Yang, this isn't going to work if you don't give me your opinions on the suits here."

"I know, I know." The blonde replied glumly.

Sun gave her a questioning look.

"Are you doing okay Yang? you seem kinda… off."

She flinched visibly and wasn't quite able to look him in the eye as she nodded. "Y-yeah its just that… I talked with Blake."

He winced. "Did it not go too well?"

"I think I royally screwed it up." She groaned.

"So? If you know you did something wrong just go apologies." The Faunus said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

She scowled. "I'm not apologising, she said some stuff that was just as bad as me. If she wasn't to beg for forgiveness I might ask the same, but I'm not gonna do it first"

Yang knew she was being irrational, that this could all be solved by just going back on talking with her partner. But why the hel should hse do that? Yang didn't think anything she said was wrong, and Blake had… she'd hit below the belt, targeting a part of Yang's life that she'd opened up to her about. She'd thrown it back in her face.

No, she wasn't apologising. That was just the kind of person she was: anytime someone had messed with her she's either make them regret it with a punch they'd remember, or she'd dig her heels in until they were at her feet. Sure, it might not have been the best way to make friends, but what did she care?

Yang wasn't a forgiving kind of person. She'd forget about it, sure, act like everything was fine and move on as if she'd never cared in the first place, but she' never forgive it, not unless they begged for forgives on their hands and knees.

Yeah, it was definitely one of her biggest flaws, to hold a grudge like that but…

Whatever, it didn't matter.

She sighed. "Listen Nep, I don't think it's gonna work out. I don't think there's any point in-"

"Stop right there." He ordered. "You may have given up but I haven't. You _need_ something to wear at the dance, even if it's not with Blake.

"Nut if I'm not going with anyone what's the point?"

He stared at her likes she was an idiot, and she was starting to feel like one honestly.

"Yang, the suit was so that you could wow Blake yeah, but you're not going to the dance for _her_ , you're going for you, to have fun and feel good about yourself. I told you I was going to get you something that would leave everybody staring and that's exactly what I'm going to do.."

He gave her a levelled glare. "Now get over here and tell me what you think or so help me I'll give you a reason not to go to the dance and shave you bald."

Yang paled and nodded rapidly. "R-right."

Sun snickered from the side-lines and winked at her. "Yeah, Neptune's scary side comes out when it comes to looking good."

"You get over here too Sun, or do you want people to mistake you for a Rat Faunus instead of a monkey?"

"C-coming buddy!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

"And this is my team leader, RWBY. Weiss finished, introducing her younger partner to a group of second years. The heiress had corralled Ruby into coming with her to the ballroom. It was decorated for the most part In all sorts of colours, and tables surrounded the edges. It looked like the setting up of the dance was almost finished at least, although by the looks of it they weren't done.

The leader of team CFVY tipped their sunglasses down a little to look over them at Ruby. "Names Coco. Yeah, I think I remember you.i've seen you around during combat training. You're one of the first years that was moved up in combat class right."

"Yeah I am." Ruby nodded. "So, Weiss said she was working with you on this. Am I here to help or…"

The older student grinned. "Heh, straight to the point, I like that, yeah we've got all the planning and hard work done, now we just need some extra pair of hands to finish up. Weiss here said you'd be happy to help."

The reaper blinked. "She did."

"Well, no," Coco admitted. "But she said you didn't have anything else going on so I took that as an invitation."

Weiss coughed in embarrassment beside her.

"Anyway," she went on. "The job I've got for you isn't too hard if you do what you're told. You'll be tying some knots and moving some stuff around, easy right."

"It would be if you were a little less Vauge." Ruby drawled.

Coco laughed and waved a hand dismissively. "Weiss can help you figure it out, I gotta get back to fox and the big guy to make sure they're doing what they're told. Have fun!"

With that, she walked away and left the two first years by themselves. When she was far enough away Weiss turned to Ruby.

"I am _so_ sorry," she gasped. "it came up in a passing conversation that our team wasn't working on anything too difficult or strenuous and she told me to ask for your help."

She really hadn't, and she hopped Ruby wouldn't be upset about it, even if it did make her happy that her partner would be helping her with this. No, it wasn't because of what Nora had said, that was _still_ ridiculous. She would prove it, using everyone's first names would be the start, then she'd shove it right back in the girls face.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "It's fine Weiss. I mean, I wasn't expecting to help but it's not like I'm doing anything right now. So just tell me what you need me to do and we'll get it done."

"Right, of course," the Heiress nodded. "Well then come with me," she said, walking over to one side of the hall near the entrance. "we need to fasten these banners first of all, and once we're done that we can move on to carrying the speakers to the stage."

"Right.

They got to work, carefully going about the work of placing finely decorated tapestry – that Ruby didn't even want to know how they got their hands on it – to the side and top of the door. It was the golden symbol of Beacon, probably a way of reminding visiting students where they were.

In the moments of silence Ruby spoke up.

"Hey… Weiss?"

"Yes Ruby?"

"I was meaning to ask you but… are you okay? You've seemed a bit off since before the warehouse."

"What… do you mean?"

"I don't know.," she admitted. "I just… have I done something wrong? You keep giving me looks and I don't know what they're supposed to mean."

Weiss cleared her throat. "You saw those did you?"

She laughed. "I'm a sniper Weiss, having good eyesight is sorta one of the essentials. So... yeah, I saw them. I don't know what they mean though so like, did I do or say something I shouldn't have?"

"No of course not," Weiss protested. "It's…. complicated. I'm not sure what I can say to explain it without sounding ridiculous."

"You listen to me everytime something stupid comes out of my mouth," Ruby giggled. "you don't have to worry. I'm sure whatever it is you have to say isn't nearly as bad as you think."

"I…"

"Hello friend Ruby and friend Weiss!"

The two partners were shocked out of their conversation at the voice of a bubbly newcomer.

"P-penny! Ruby gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I was made aware that you would be assisting in the preparation for the dance on Sunday. I also came to offer my assistance."

"W-well did you have to sneak up on us like that?" Weiss glowered.

Penny tilted her head. "I had been calling out you names for the last sixty seconds but you did not respond. You are the only two in this room that I have acquainted myself with so I thought it would be an acceptable decision to speak to you first."

They blinked and the heiress deflated.

"Oh…" she said. "Right, sorry then. I suppose we weren't paying attention."

"You are forgiven friend Weiss. Now, is there any way I can offer my assistance?"

"Well… we do have some more work to do," Weiss acknowledged. "We've finished here, we should move onto arranging the speakers in the right place but they are heavy. Perhaps you should-"

"Is this helpful?" the girl asked, lifting the speaker which was three times her size and far heavier than any girl should rightly be able to lift… except if you were maybe Yang or Nora."

Except even then they would have to put some effort into it. Penny held it above her head like it weighed nothing.

Ruby looked on with stars in her eyes.

"That's _so cool!_ " she preened.

"Thank you Ruby. I am happy to assist."

With that they got back to work, and with an extra person to voice their thoughts with they fell into a more comfortable conversation.

"So Panny," Weiss began. "You study in Atlas, is it any different from here? I never got to learn much about it rather than what my sister told me."

"Oh it is very different Weiss." Penny smiled brightly. "The entire school is highly structured, regimental and intent on instilling discipline into the future generation of Huntsman and Huntresses. Duty and loyalty as well as laws and protocol is the forefront of the school's policy."

"I see." Weiss nodded. "What is it like for you then?"

"What do you mean?"

Well, it's just that you don't seem very… regimental. If you don't mind me saying."

Oh, from what I know not all students are like that. Atlas is are that expression is important, especially after the war. My father encouraged me to learn, grow and express myself as much as possible. I'd like to think General Ironwood encourages this."

"You know the General."

"Of course! AS the headmaster of the school he has interacted with me aplenty. After all, my father in one of the Head Atlesian scientists, and with my participation as one of the teams brought here to beacon for the tournament I have spoken to him many times."

The heiress hummed. My sister has spoken highly of him as her commander, however I am… personally unsure what he is like in person. From what I have seen at a distance when he arrived her at Beacon and passing in the hallway he is fairly intimidating."

"Oh do not worry wises. I am aware that the General may seem stalwart in his demeanour but is without a doubt a fair person and encourages his students to do their best while caring about their safety, Ruby can attest to this herself."

Weiss blinked, turning to her leader. "She can?"

"A-ah! Well," Ruby sweated. Behind her Penny seemed to realise what she said and give an apologetic . that was great an all but now she'd landed heer in this situation. Penny wasn't good at lying was she? This was supposed to be something kept between them and the members of the order. The fact that it was a truthful response usually would have please Ruby but _really? Right now of all times?_

"I only talked to him a few times. I was interested in the fact that I got in early, and since Ozpin and him know each other he thought it was a good idea to talk to me in person. But, yeah, from what _I_ can tell he's a nice guy. A little scary like you said, but more the way that he leads an army. I think its more of a side effect than anything he actually does. He's a bit formal though for a school."

Weiss watched her for a second longer before nodding slowly. It looked like she'd taken the explanation for what it was.

"That does make sense," she said at last. "My sister always told me what it was like when I was still thinking about enlisting in Atlas but… I am pleased that I chose to study here in Vale instead."

"Oh it does seem wonderful here," Penny agreed. "Its so much more lovely here, it's so exciting and colourful and far warmer than Atlas.i think it would be wonderful to stay here in fact."

Ruby perked up. "You mean transferring schools?" that's a big jump. You wouldn't have a team to join if you did."

"yes that is true, but I believe some of the other Atlas students would be happy to join too. I have spoken to the members of team FNKI and they seem positively joyous. They'd fit in so well here, and Ciel might be willing to come with me, she's my partner by the way."

Weiss couldn't help but chuckle. "Well you sound like you have this all planned out."

"Oh yes," she nodded. "I have spent the last few minuted thinking about it and I think I have come up with a solution!"

"M-minutes!?" Weiss gasped.

Ah right, Ruby thought, Penny had that skill to deal with information _really_ fast. She was like a supercomputer or something.

It was weird, but Ruby never thought she'd ever be friends with someone like Penny, someone as socially awkward as her, but so bright and happy it was like she hadn't a care in the world.

Which was strange in itself when you thought about how Penny knew about the relics, the maiden,s Salem and all the other crazy stuff in the world.

Maybe that was why the strange girl was so easy to like; because even though they were faced with all those things, that terrified Ruby to her core she could act like it didn't matter.

Ruby was good at hiding her fear, but it was still here… maybe because she hadn't aimed to be a huntress. She wanted to be one, sure, but after years it had… taken a back seat. It was always about fighting an insurmountable darkness when Ozpin was concerned, about fighting a war that's lasted thousands of years and being on the defensive side, always standing your ground but never advancing. Penny was aiming for a huntresses life, it was easy to see, a different life than Ruby, a life focused on helping people, on fighting monsters and inspiring hope.

Like her mother had, all that time ago.

She shook her head.

This wasn't the place to think about… things that painful

Just focus on preparing for the party.

They focused on the job at hand, and about thirty or so minutes later the rest of team CFVY finished up on their end.

Velvet was the first to talk to them.

"You three need any help over here?" she smiled. Ruby and Weiss gladly accepted, and Yansuhashi and Foxx got to work moving the crates of food and drink for everyone.

Coca whistled at the work done so far by the three first years. "Wow, I I didn't expect you squirts to do so good. Guess we're lucky you guys were willing to help."

Weiss preened. "It's nothing," she said. "We were just doing our duty as underclassmen."

"Why don't you reward us then?"

"Ru- wait, Penny?" Weiss gaped. Ruby might have been a little miffed that her partner had expected _her_ to be the one wanting payment, but Penny of all people?!

"Is something wrong? I am just suggesting that our good work be rewarded. That is proven to be the best method to encourage improvement in the future." Penny kept a straight face through her explanation as if she was suggesting something like second years paying them for a volunteer job completely reasonable like saying that water was wet.

Coco just grinned. "Hey, what do you know, you got some hustle kid. Alright. How about this; I have a guy who knows how to smuggle some of the stuff Goodwitch doesn't allow. Maybe I can sneak in some of the good stuff to replace the punch? Like a stiff drink."

"Deal!" Ruby latching onto the offer instantly. "No deal." Weiss countered deadpan. "Penny can drink it if she wants but please refrain from offering any alcohol to Ruby. The rumours are already bad enough without proof that the leader of team RWBY is an alcoholic. I know you just want to record the aftermath of a drunk Ruby"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Coco said imperiously. The grin on her face suggested she knew exactly what she was talking about.

Ruby sighed in defeat and Weiss deemed fit to change the conversation.

"So Velvet, how have things been for you lately?"

"Humm? Oh they've been good thank you for asking. But you don't need to worry."

"Ah. Well it's just that after Cardin has been spending more time with our group I worried you would take that poorly."

Coco scoffed. "We couldn't even if we wanted to. Velv was all insistent in forgiving the guy after he stopped messing with her, even if we only heard about it after he stopped. Yats and I were planning on exacting vengeance anyway on a matter of principle but then the guy came to our door and apologised."

"You forgave him then?" the heiress hummed.

"Kinda hard not to when the guy had his forehead pressed against the floor. I mean there's apologising and then there's that."

"Cardin's a nice guy," Ruby defended. "He's just got… complicated circumstances."

"Yeah, I can tell," She smirked. "But we couldn't really say anything since Velvets all lovey-dovey with him."

"COCO!" the Faunus blushed.

"Really, You and Cardin?" well that's a thing." Ruby laughed. "I wonder if his team knows."

Weiss groaned. "Now that you mention it I think they do. They were particularly teasing of him this morning breakfast. They must have recently found out. "

"Well that's what guys do when they find out a friend has a girlfriend."

"COCO!"

"What?"

"I'm _not_ his girlfriend. We just talked a little when we got the chance. He's a gentleman and it was so different from how he acted before that I wanted to find out why. _We. Talked._ "

"So he's _not_ going to be accompanying you to the dance?"

"…"

"I'm not hearing a no~"

"You are the worst teammate ever." Velvet sighed.

Coco chuckled and turned to them. "Anyway, I think you guys have done enough. All that's left is to put on the finishing touches." She made a shooing motion. "Go on and scram, enjoy the rest of your day and get ready for Sunday."

"Are you sure? We could still help." Weiss insisted.

"Nah, we got this, now go."

They did as they were told, and the three students made their way out of the hall.

"That was a sensational experience!" Penny beamed. "It was so fun to help with such planning of festivities. I have an idea now that we are finished, would the two of you like to get ice cream?"

Weiss blinked. "Ice cream, now?"

"Of course! I have heard that eating ice cream with a friend is a great way to improve relations."

Ruby and Weiss shared a look, before the reaper in red shrugged. "Well she's not wrong. Come on, we might as well after that."

"Oh alright, but I refuse to pay for you!"

"Hey! I'm not poor, miss Heiress."

"Then you can prove it by buying your own treat."

"Bah!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Okay, come on out!" Neptune called to Yang from outside the changing rooms.

Yang took a breath as she fastened the last button up. She hadn't looked in any mirror yet, trusting boys to give her the detail she needed, and there was a proper mirror outside.

She stepped out and was met with a smile from Neptune and an appreciative whistle from Sun.

"There we go," the blue-haired teen grinned. "Finally a good look."

Yang turned her head to peek at her reflection.

Wow… she _did_ look good.

The suit wasn't tight, but the black material was formfitting and slimming.

In short, it clung to her body invitingly. Yeah, it was more of a tuxedo than a suit but that just made her look better.

"So this is what you're going with then?"

Yeah, yeah it was.

Yang smirked, feeling better than she had all day, a fire lighting in her chest.

Heh... she hoped she sounded extra cheesy.

It was time to dance.

...

* * *

 **On to the next part, the dance and all the teen romance you could ever gorge on...**

 **Well, hopefully not, instead you'll be getting an interesting little surprise soon. This series of chapters will of course be about getting to know the characters we all love more, and hopefully it'll be a fun little read, personally, it's the part I'm most worried about, mainly due to the fact that for me writing romance is difficult.**

 **ah well, we'll see how it goes.**

 **So what did you like about the chapter? What did you hate? feel free to let me know.**

 **And as always, Follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **BYE!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	21. Igniting the Spark: Part 2

The young leader paced back and forth in her room, or at least she tried to, but she only managed a few steps before these damned heels tripped her up!

She wasn't even wearing ones that high, just enough to qualify as something you could wear to a dance. And, yes, the pacing could be argued to be practice walking in heels, but really Ruby was just nervous.

Agh! Why was she even nervous about this at all? She was a huntress-in-training, she'd fought Grimm, terrorists and criminals but she was scared of being in a room full of people and dancing.

This was so stupid!

She took a breath and checked herself out in the mirror. At least she didn't look awful: a dark red dress had been her choice with dark tights and heels. Ruby didn't really know how to pick out the fashionable clothes from the boring ones, but she was confident that it was passable at least.

She groaned. She _really_ didn't want to do this. Dancing! Dancing of all things!

At least she could enjoy the food and drink, even if she knew Weiss would be watching her like a hawk so that she didn't have anything she wasn't allowed. She tapped her heels off the floor. She needed to calm down she told herself. All she needed to do was show up, be seen by her teammates, and not fall on her face.

Fleetingly she wondered where her teammates were. Weiss was probably already at the dace, having organised it she'd told Ruby that she'd greet guests for the first hour or so while team CVFY got to have fun before switching out. Which was nice of her all things considered.

She wasn't sure where Yang was exactly, just that she'd stayed over in Sun and Neptune's room last night for some reason. Were her and Sun really a thin? She didn't think so but if things kept going on like this what else could there be. She hadn't even seen what her sister was going to ear at the dace yet, but hey, at least it would be a spectacle.

As for Blake? Well she'd said she had something important to do and vanished for the whole day.

Fortunately it gave Ruby free reign to embarrass herself privately in her room before the dance, but would it kill them to be here to give her a pep talk or something? Wasn't that something big sisters are supposed to do?

' _Isn't that your fault?'_ her mind whispered treacherously _'Yang never gets the chance to be a sister because you always push her away. Maybe if you tired as much as she did you'd have a healthy relationship.'_

"it's not my fault, it's not my fault that I've been out in the world all this time." She whispered to an empty room.

' _no, but it's your fault for never giving a decent explanation as to what happened. Why do you lie to her? She's your family'_

I have to keep it a secret, it's to protect her!"

 _And who told you that? Ozpin? What's so dangerous about knowing the truth? She's already training to be a huntress. She's already putting her life on the line."_

"But-"

Ruby was interrupted by a knock on the door. Sher had snapped towards it and she blinked. Who could that be? The dance had technically already started, and no one should be back at this time.

Ruby answered the door, and was surprised to see Amber waiting for her with a smile. She stared at the older girl in shock and awe, but before she could register why….

"Hey Ruby," she waved. "Ready to go?"

"W-what?"

The reaper stared. Was she…

"Don't worry, I'm not your date," she smiled, already hearing the unspoken question. "But I know enough about you to know that if I don't bring you with me you'll be in your room for another hour."

Ruby pouted. Just what was she trying to say? A smile spread onto her face despite herself however.

"Well I guess you're right," she admitted. "So you came to get me then."

"I did," the maiden grinned. She offered her arm. "Would you like to depart, my faithful protector?"

She giggled. "If we must, I suppose I will allow it." She linked arms with Amber and they made their way down the hallway."

As they did, the older girl inspected Ruby's dress. She smiled. "You look good," she told her. "I know it's pretty much a part of your everyday outfit but red looks good on you."

"T-thanks," Ruby coughed. "But what about yours? You look… amazing."

She wasn't exaggerating; Amber wore a dress reaching down to her ankles, but with a cut on the side to free her legs and show them off. The colours were soft reds, bright oranges and browns, autumn didn't stop there; her arms and legs were wrapped in golden jewellery, ringlets and jewels shining brightly and a necklace of pure gold to outshine it all..Her hair was tied back into a long braid that fell over one shoulder and her eyes shined bright, it was as if her scars weren't even there.

Amber wasn't dressed for a prom or a dance, she was dressed as if she were going to meet royalty.

Ruby said as much and the half-maiden's eyes shined bright with joy. "I know," she preened. "Ozpin had someone get it for me; he said I was going to be the guest of honour. I'm still finding it hard to believe how wonderful this all is."

Ruby blinked. "Well that's nice of him. I… I guess that's something he would do. Did he say why?"

"He did," she nodded. "He told me that I was under too much stress and that I should enjoy myself when even I could. He said that even with my responsibility to think about it came with plenty of rewards."

And he just happened to have something like this prepared for Amber. Ruby didn't like it. It might have just been her paranoia r not reading the situation, but the whole thing… no, she shouldn't think about it like that. Trust was important, if she started to think like that she'd tell Ozpin that she wasn't up to her tasks.

She needed to trust Ozpin and not end up like others before her, a traitor or a coward.

Qrow had told her what had happened with _his_ sister, with Raven turning her back on all of them.

Ending up like that… wasn't something she wanted.

So she would have to trust Ozpin, that there wasn't some ulterior motive behind this and he was genuinely trying to make Amber happy for all that she was doing.

That wasn't so hard to do.

Right?

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang sighed as she leaned against the wall. Why was she even here again? Oh yeah, because Neptune ordered her to be, how he'd managed that she didn't know but here she was, hanging around with a bored expression on her face.

At least the punch was good, she acknowledged as she took a sip from the cup in her hand. That was something, but she felt a little left out as her eyes roamed over the couples dancing together in the centre of the room. There were some pretty good dancers too, well, most were amateurish but every now and again she'd see someone like Cardin dancing with Velvet – and wasn't that a surprise – and see them move as if dancing together was second nature to them.

Ugh, and here she was watching it like some loser on the side. This had been a bad idea from the start, not only because she didn't come with a date, but because she was wearing a suit, which didn't do much for attracting any guys to her.

It's not like she cared whether she was wearing a dress or tux, and if she was honest it was kind of nice, but nobody was approaching her, and she just… didn't feel up to doing it herself. That fire from before had dimmed as soon as she'd stepped into the hall, and she didn't know what to do.

Ugh, and now she was getting all poetic.

Fuckin' Blake.

She sighed, kicking off the wall and making to leave when her scroll buzzed. She reached for it, wondering who would be messaging her now of all times and blinked when she saw it was from Sun.

It was a single line: come to the entrance. What was that supposed to mean? Apart from the literal sense why had he sent it in the first place?

She huffed, stashing her scroll away and finished her drink.

What the hel, it wasn't like she was going to be doing anything else, and it _was_ on the way out. She manoeuvred her way through groups of people still flowing in, careful not to step between couples as she went and walked outside.

The night air hit her and she inhaled the cool breeze. It was great weather even for night, with the moon still rising in the sky and both the lamps along the paths and the stars themselves helping to illuminate it all. Yeah, it was nice to be out here at least.

Now where on Remnant was Sun?"

As if one queue, someone called out her name and she turned to the voice. She didn't know how she didn't realise it straight away but it wasn't Sun's voice.

It was Blake's.

The blonde froze at the sight of her.

Yang had thought that if she saw her partner so soon after the other day she'd have words to say to her, none too gentle and enough to give the girl a piece of her mind. Now though, nothing came to mind.

Blake wore a dress to match her hair, down to her knees, with bare legs and heels not too high but enough that she was Yang's height now. Blake's Bramber eyes flickered nervously to the floor and her ears twitched nervously. She managed a small smile as she looked at Yang, and the blonde had a moment to realise the bags under her eyes were gone. Yang hadn't seen her yesterday. Had she taken her advice and gotten some rest?

The brunt of Yang's anger towards her partner dulled, and although she was still upset, it wasn't enough to overtake the feeling she got when she saw the Faunus like that.

Blake was closer to her now, steeling herself.

"Yang," she said. "You look good in a tux. I guess that's not really a surprise."

"I…" Yang tried to force out. "What are you doing here."

"I-I came to the dance," Blake explained, suddenly nervous. "You… that's what you had wanted to ask me in the library on Friday… isn't it?"

It was. But she'd never actually gotten the chance to say it, and now Blake was here all dressed up and walking up to her like she was her date.

w-was she?

Yang didn't have a handle on what was going on.

Blake held up her hand, an offer for Yan to take it.

"So?" she asked. "Are we going in?"

"I…" suddenly, Yang's eyes flicked over her partner's shoulder (very nice shoulders by the way) and saw the blond Faunus in the background, grinning in her direction and giving the thumbs up

Sun! This was his doing! That beautiful bastard!

A not quite confident, but eager smile overtook her face. Alright, why not?"

She grasped Blake's hand and thanked that her hands hadn't gotten clammy from Blake's sudden appearance.

She did the tux-wearing thing and lead her date – oh god – into the hall.

Maybe it was luck, or another thing planned by Sun but a new song was about to start and with a look seeking permission from Blake she stepped onto the floor with the other couples.

To Yang's simultaneous relief and dread it was a slow song, r which was good to set things up so that she could mentally prepare herself, but dreadful because it required the two partners to be nearly flush against each other.

Which she most certainly was _not_ mentally prepared for.

The music started up, and Blake let her take the lead as they danced. Maybe she should that Neptune too, the two days she taught him to dance meant that she got to practice her moves before tonight. She wasn't rusty in the art of slow dancing at least.

Yang's eyes met Blake's for a millisecond before both of them looked away. The silence ticked on for a bit longer before Yang went to speak.

Right as Blake did.

"Blake-"

"Yang I-"

They paused, and yang always herself a little embarrassed smile as she looked away for a moment. "You can go first if you want."

Blake hesitated for a second more before steeling herself.

"Yang I'm sorry." She said. "What I said to you in the library I… I shouldn't have said what I said. I was tired and irritated and, I know that's not an excuse but I didn't…. I'm so, so sorry for hurting you."

The blonde managed to crack a smile, as weak as it was, even as an awful feeling churned in her gut. "S'fine, not like it wasn't true."

"It's _not_ true! Blake hissed out. The Faunus gripped her partner tighter and the brawler was forced to look into her eyes "Listen to me Yang, you have this. This hurtle that the rest of us don't that makes it difficult for you sometimes but you are _not_ crazy. Do you hear me?"

She looked away. "I was an idiot for saying it, for saying the thing that I knew would hurt you the most at the time. I… I'm an idiot because I let this… this obsession with the White Fang take over and you were just worried about me and I hurt you and-"

"Blake," Yang cut in, holding her so that she could get her point across. "Stop."

"But-"

"No, stop apologising."

Yang took a breath. This wasn't like her at all but… she didn't like it. she didn't like hearing Blake apologising to her. Maybe that was because…

"I was just as bad as you," she confessed, but her gaze hardened when Blake went to argue. "Listen, just for a second, okay?"

A hesitant nod. She sighed again.

"You're right. You shouldn't have said what you said. It hurt, to be called crazy by my own partner even if I know now that you didn't mean it I was angry at the time and couldn't help it from stinging. But… that's my fault just as much as yours."

"Y-yang?"

"I pushed you," the blonde grit out. "I ignored your worry about them because I couldn't be bothered to think about it and I shrugged off your history because I was more focused on what I wanted. I was more interested in asking you to the dance than actually caring about your health and that makes me sick to my stomach."

She growled. "You can't say you're sorry Blake, not when I was just as bad, I mean, I even acted like everything that's happened to the Faunus was no big deal and that it wasn't something I cared about but I _do_ because _you_ care about it."

She swallowed. "And I… I…"

Why couldn't she say it? What was she even _trying_ to say?

"At least you have something that drives you," She said instead. "To me it's crazy that anyone my age could have… goals beyond graduating. Look at me Blake; I'm a thrill seeker without a plan. I don't know what I want to do with my life and no matter how much I think about it nothing comes to mind. I want to be a huntress sure but… even they have to settle down eventually. Then I look at you and _your_ goals."

She smiled. "You want to right inequality in the world, create peace and understanding between humans and Faunus, you wanna stop the White Fang, become a huntress, save lives and just make the world a better place."

Yang's smile turned brittle. "You've got amazing dreams that I couldn't even touch, and I _know_ you can do it, because _you're_ amazing." She sighed. "You really are.

Blake looked down for a moment, before meeting the blonde's gaze.

"I think that maybe… maybe we're both at fault, so maybe we should both a apologise, or," a smile flickered on the edge of her lips. "Or maybe that's what this was."

"Y-yeah," Yang breathed. "Maybe it was."

A beat of silence.

"So," Yang asked. "Why… did you show up here anyway? I mean, you could have apologised tomorrow."

Blake let out a small laugh as she looked up in amusement. "I don't think it would have the same effect if I left it any longer, and besides." She glanced around the room to the other people dancing. Yang had honestly forgotten about them. "You _did_ ask me to the dance, or at least that's what you were going to do. It actually took me a while to get that. Sleep apparently is _really_ important."

Yang licked her lips nervously. "So… is this…"

"A date? I think so yes."

Yang looked away for a second before she forced herself to look back. "And does that mean we're…"

"Together? I think so yes."

Yang forgot to breathe. Blake saw it and a smirk spread across her face. The dark-haired girl reached up with one hand and cupped Yang's face, tilting her head down a little and to the side.

"Here, let me show you."

Their lips met.

And Yang could breathe again.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss let out a sigh of relief as she watched people move to-and-fro on the floor. So far, the dance was a success. The music was perfect, there was plenty of punch in the bowls and people were enjoying themselves. The night was still young but for now it seemed things were going well.

Why did she feel something nagging at the back of her mind then?

She shook her head. This was a time to feel good about her accomplishment, not worried about some invisible feeling.

Now if only she could have gotten-

"Salutations Friend Weiss!"

Weiss nearly jumped out of her skin at the greeting and suppressed an exasperated groan as she faced Penny.

"You know, you don't have to say salutations every time you greet someone Penny," she told her. "Saying hello is just as effective, and maybe 'Weiss' is good enough on its own."

"I see," the strange girl nodded. "I will add that to the database at a later date."

What? The heiress was about to ask her what she meant when she noticed the other strangers next to her.

"And who are these Penny?" she asked instead, glancing at the two men.

"Ah!" she said as if noticing them for the first time. "these are the Atlesian soldiers assigned to watch over me during my time at Beacon."

Weiss eyes them warily. Not that she was suspicious or anything, but for them to be guarding Penny meant that the girl was certainly more important than she acted.

"And… who is this then?" she asked again.

She was of course referring to the girl with navy-blue hair and dark skin standing next to Penny.

Said girl straightened and stepped forward.

"Ciel Soliel ma'am; a student from Atlas here to participate in the tournament and Penny Polendina's partner."

Weiss blinked. There was something… off about her.

"Ah, well in that case I am-"

"Weiss Schnee," Ciel finished for her. "Heiress of the SDC and aspiring huntress. Age: seventeen, hails predictably from high-society Atlas, member of team RWBY. Your status as of now is… unknown."

Military.

The word popped into Weiss mind almost instantly. It might have just been the regimental structure at their school, but something about Ciel was different. She was like her sister.

A professional.

Or, as close as one could come to such a thing at their age. It was obvious she wasn't in the same league as Winter, but no doubt she'd been put on a team with Penny for a reason.

Now if Weiss could just figure out _what_ that reason was it would be great.

"It seems you are well informed," she said at last "Forgive me if that does not extend both ways. It is a pleasure to meet you all the same…Ciel."

"Likewise Miss Schnee. Forgive me for asking, but you do not seem to have a dance partner."

Weiss flushed. Well that was… why on earth would she say that? She expected it from Penny with all her social inequities but another one? Was Atlas just full of people who didn't have any tact?

But… well she was right. Weiss didn't have a partner. The heiress had been so busy helping to organise the dance and acquainting herself with team CFVY not to mention keeping up with her studies and dealing with her team… she had thought about asking Neptune, as he danced with a girl she didn't recognise.

It wasn't a sure thing, and it looked like he was relying more on talking than dancing, but it did seem to be working.

Weiss sighed. She'd planned on asking him to the dance, but he hadn't been around for her to do that.

That was… fine. It wasn't like she'd been rejected or anything, in fact she'd turned down a number of boys that had asked her. She was certain they only did it because of her name, not because of who she was. It was perfectly right for her not to associate herself with people like that.

Which was why it hurt now that she wished she'd said yes to one of them.

Weiss shot Ciel and Penny a smile, as forced as it was.

"Oh, it's fine. I was much too preoccupied to concern myself with such things. I am perfectly fine by myself at the moment."

Penny nodded understanding (Weiss was sure she was understanding it completely wrong but still)

"Ah yes! That explains it. You were too busy to arrange something so important. That makes it clear."

She blinked. "Makes what clear?"

"Why it's the same for Ruby," Penny told her, pointing to the side of the room, where her partner stood near the food table. "Ruby had been there since the beginning of the night." Her eyes snapped to the scene.

Penny was right. Ruby was stood at the edge of the room looking around like she was… lost. She looked nervous, and uncomfortable around so many people from the why she stood awkwardly on her heels to her shoulders hunched. She didn't want to be here, it was as clear to Weiss as the night sky.

She frowned.

"Excuse me for a moment." She said, not even turning to look back as she marched over to her leader. When she stopped in front of her she scowled.

"What are you doing?" she asked with her hands landing on her hips.

Ruby looked up from her drink in surprise and smiled. "Oh, hey Weiss, just uh, enjoying the night." She waved her cup in front of her. "Don't worry, it's just punch."

Her frown deepened. "That's not what I'm talking about."

Ruby looked up at her in confusion. "Um… what are you talking about then"

"You!" she hissed. "Why are you standing here instead of dancing? You shouldn't _waste_ tonight."

Ruby blinked and raised a confused eyebrow. "Weiss… nobody asked me to the dance, remember?"

It was the older girls turn to blink. "What?"

"Nobody asked me. I told you the other day. I'm too young for anybody here so… I came alone. "It's still fun though," she assured, rocking back and forth on her heels. "I mean, I haven't really gotten involved all that much but people look like their happy. You did a great job."

Weiss stared. Had… had Ruby said she would be going alone?

Yes, she did. But Weiss hadn't listened. Or, she did, but she didn't believe it. Why wouldn't someone ask Ruby to the dance? She was wonderful! Had she really be so caught up in her own work that she forgot about her leader?

"I…" she didn't know what to say. What could she say?

Weiss had turned down scores of men, and had only ended up alone because she'd been too picky and lost her chance, and here was Ruby, who didn't even _have_ that chance.

Honestly, what had she been thinking, when the obvious answer was right in front of her.

She blinked, before letting out an annoyed huff.

Dammit Nora.

(As if the thought had summoned her, Nora cackled in the background. Ren looked to his longtime friend questioningly, but, thins being Nora, quickly shrugged it off.)

Weiss held out her hand.

Ruby looked at it in confusion, before carrying that loo to her partner.

The Schnee huffed again. "Well then?"

"Weiss?"

"Come on you dunce, dance with me."

The reaper straightened with a startled look, Weiss looked away.

"Don't read into it. It would be poor form for the leader of team RWBY to be stuck on the side-lines. I'm just making sure that is not the case."

The girl in red didn't respond, simply staring at the hand. For a moment, Weiss was afraid Ruby would refuse, but then, she watched as Ruby grasped her hand, and looked up at her.

Weiss breathed sharply.

Ruby was… smiling… but… it was different. It was a different smile than anything she'd seen before.

Was this Ruby's genuine smile?"

"Come on then," Ruby giggled. "I'll warn you that I've never danced before. I hope you'll lead me"

The heiress straightened up. "Of course, just follow my lead; I'll be sure to show you just how good I am."

"I'll bet on it."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake looked up at Yang with a bemused smile. "What are you grinning act."

Said grinning blonde nearly giggled as she answered.

"Isn't it obvious?" she laughed. "I'm dancing with the most beautiful girl at the dance."

The Faunus rolled her eyes. "I'm flattered, but I'm pretty sure is an exaggeration. Especially with all these-"

"Nope."

She blinked. "Nope?"

"Nope," Yang nodded. "I don't care what anybody else thinks, cuz their wrong. You're the most beautiful person in this room." She gave a cocky smile. "Course someone as bangin' as me is second to that, and even then it's a close thing."

Blake shook her head in disbelief. "You're unbelievable. I think it might be a bit soon to be proclaiming my beauty in a roomful of people."

The blonde smirked. "You're the one that kissed me kitten, you pretty damn good at it by the way."

"Yeah…"

Yang's expression suddenly shifted to worry. "W-what's the matter? Are… are you regretting it?"

"No, of course not," Blake rushed to assure her, then hesitated. "It's just… I think I've done this wrong." She admitted. "Yang…I'm… I'm not _conventional_ in these types of things."

"Don't you mean inexperienced?" Yang asked.

"No."

"…oh."

The dark-haired girl bit her lip. "I was with someone once, before Beacon. When I was in the White Fang. We… were together for a while and we knew a lot about each other. But more than that we… started off fast."

She glanced away. "I don't know how else to say that we got… _intimate_ way too fast. I rushed it, _we_ rushed it because we thought it was something more than it actually was and eventually and… eventually he became possessive, or at the very least it was moving towards that. he was quick to anger, violent and-"

She let out a shaky breath, and Yang had to fight the urge to hold her closer so that she could finish her story.

"A part of it was my fault. Like I said; we rushed it. I don't want to ruin this here by doing the same."

That was it?

Huh…

Yang smiled down at her.

"Hey." she whispered, getting her attention. Blake looked up, and Yang pressed their lips together. Blake gave a surprised, but appreciative noise as she leaned into it a bit. Before it could go further Yang broke it off. A part of her wished she hadn't, she could still taste Blake on her lips.

"You don't need to worry about that." She smiled. "I… I'm not going to say I get it, what you've been through but, I'm not going to leave you or hurt you or, or whatever else happened." Her smile turned amused. "I mean, maybe it's not an entirely _healthy_ reason but you know how I feel about the whole abandonment thing."

Blake choked out a laugh at that, glaring up at her partner half-heartedly.

"That's not funny." She murmured.

"You sure? Because I'm pretty sure I tell the best jokes around."

"Whoever told you that needs a good smack on the head."

"Yeah, yeah you love it." Yang's eyes grew softer. "We don't have to get… intimate. Not if you don't want to. This right here is good enough for me."

Blake looked honestly shocked by her words, although for the life of her Yang couldn't tell why. As the girl opened her mouth to say something the music suddenly kicked up a notch, and more people congregated to the dance floor, moving faster than before.

A grin spread across Yang's face.

"Hey Blake? How good a dancer are you?"

The Faunus blinked. "What do you- woah! Hey!" she squeaked as Yang spun her around, pulling her close as she moved to the music.

Blake stumbled for a moment, before rising to the challenge and holding Yang's gaze, moving along too.

Yang breathed in. the two of them were closer now, bodies moving together as they _worked_ together, and yet somehow managed to make it into a competition.

Blake couldn't dance, Yang realised as her eyes fell to the other girl's feet.

The Faunus couldn't dance, most likely didn't have any practice like Yang did, what with the whole freedom fighting gig.

But it didn't matter.

The brawler marvelled in awe as her dance partner kept pace with her. No, she couldn't dance, but she was quick enough on her feet that it didn't matter. With Yangs every step Blake followed, every push, every pull she reacted perfectly. Every so often the Faunus' ears would flick as she concentrated on her moves. It was amazing.

Blake pressed herself closer.

Their bodies were touching now, in a way that had Yang's body tingling in excitement, and her mind screamed as she struggled to hold on to her self-control.

Yang's eyes met Blake's again.

They _burned_.

The two of them danced.

It was the only word Yang's brain could think of at the moment as she was taken in by those golden orbs.

They danced and danced and danced. Through one song, then two, then three and four and still they held each other.

This was heaven; this is what it must have felt like, Yang thought.

It had to come to an end eventually however, the next song coming to an end far to fast, and the two girls were flushed with a short of breath.

Or at least that was what Yang _thought_ it was.

The blonde was led by the hand to the Balcony outside, and the two of them sat on the marble rail overlooking the ground below.

They looked up at the shattered moon, shining back down in prisms of light.

Blake leaned against Yang.

"That was… thank you Yang."

The brawler laughed. "Really? For what? I don't think I really did much."

"For asking me to the dance. For helping me have more for than I have in a long time." She smiled. "This whole team has been more than I ever dreamed of. You, Ruby, Weiss. The three of you somehow became so much more than just my teammates. I don't think that happens often. Not with people like me anyway."

Yang shrugged. She shoulders moved up and down, and Blake suddenly became more aware of the muscles in her arms.

"Who knows," she said. "But you're right. For all the craziness that is our team it's better than I ever could have hoped. With everything that's happened things just feel… better, you know?"

Blake nodded. "I do."

They feel into a peaceful silence, looking into the night, it was relaxing, gentle, Blake felt-

" _Hrk!"_

Her head suddenly snapped to Yang, who was gripping the railing tight enough for cracks to form. She was wide-eyed and sweating. She was panicking.

"Yang?" she asked worriedly. "Yang what's wrong?"

The blonde sucked in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before shooting Blake a feeble smile.

"It's nothing," she said at last. "it was… voices. They scared me a little." She laughed weakly. "I guess being with you made me a little _too_ calm. That's fine though, I just got."

Yang reached for one of her pockets in the suit, where she kept her pills for emergencies. Blake's hands grasped hers however, stopping her.

"Blake?"

"Come on." The Faunus instructed, and Yang followed dutifully as she was led by the hand through the ballroom.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You said you're too calm. So we're going to do something exciting."

Okay, that made sense.

"Uh, where?"

Blake shot her back a look, and Yang lost her breath at the smirk on her face.

"Back to our room. My bed."

Oh?

Oh.

"Oh."

She swallowed.

Oh indeed.

…

…

One two three step.

One two three step.

One two three twirl.

Weiss watched as Ruby's mask of concentration set in.

The younger girl was starting to get the hang of it, and despite the few stumbles in the beginning where she had begged Weiss to tell her how she fought in heels, she was steadily improving, catching up to Weiss even.

And every so often, that mask of concentration would crack when something particularly daring was done, like a spin, or lean and Ruby would burst into a fit of excited giggles.

The whole thing was honestly bizarre.

Yes, Weiss had seen Ruby laugh and giggle and be generally silly, but it was usually diluted, hidden behind something she couldn't quite place. It was close to maturity but, not at the same time.

Now however, all of that was gone, an in its stead Weiss realised just how much of a… well, how much of a fifteen-year-old Ruby really was. Dancing was new to her like she'd said, but it was exciting for the girl in red and it could be seen and hear in how her face would light up or she would let out little squeals of joy the faster they got.

This was her, Weiss realised. _This_ was the real Ruby. Behind all the secrets and the distance, the younger girl put up she was still just a girl who found a child-like joy in what she did.

And what was more, it was _infectious!_

Weiss couldn't believe how much she was smiling. Wider than she could ever remember it being so, so wide that it was actually starting to hurt her face. She didn't care, it was just so wonderful, an indescribable feeling as she danced with Ruby.

Weiss wondered if this was how children were _meant_ to feel like that… joy that she couldn't compare.

Simple, innocent and happy and so very, very bright.

"Come on," Ruby urged, "Let's go faster. Faster!"

The heiress rolled her eyes in amusement and complied, speeding up her footwork and watching as her partner hopped all over the place to keep up, that smile still plastered on her face. There were people sending them looks, she knew.

' _What was Weiss Schnee doing dancing with a child?'_

That was what they were thinking, she could see it on their faces.

But she didn't care. She was having _fun._

Weiss linked her hands with the younger girl, leaned back and smiled even wider as Ruby gave a startled cry.

Seriously, how big could a smile get before it spilt a person's face? Was she about to find out?

Suddenly, Weis was shaken out of her thoughts as a person knocked into her with an 'oomph'

"Sorry!" a familiar voice laughed, as Weiss and Ruby turned to see Jaune and Pyrrha dancing more together. The blond grinned at them while the champion giggled behind her hand.

"I guess we got a little too caught up for a second there." He laughed.

"It' fine," Ruby gigged. "Come on Weiss let's keep going!"

She gave an exasperated sigh that she hoped Ruby didn't realise was faked.

"Oh alright."

She was about to start up again when suddenly the other pair bumped them again. Weiss didn't stumble, but she was certainly moved.

She turned to glare at Jaune, but was surprised to see him staring back just as intensely.

Was… was he challenging her?!

The heiress stood as tall as she could, and as she pulled Ruby in closer, held her gaze, watching Jaune to the same with Pyrrha. Beside them, both red-heads shared a look and laughed.

And so would begin a dance-off between partners but was really in reality a dance-off between an Arc and a Schnee.

The students of Beacon were not ready.

* * *

…

…

* * *

 _Breathing, gasping and groaning._

 _Touches, feather-light touches trailing across her skin. Nails ran across her back, a desperate cry of her name._

 _Golden, smouldering orbs._

 _Gasping_

 _Choking._

 _Pleading, pleading for more._

 _Bodies pressed together and hands gripping frantically._

 _More, more!_

 _Chest pulling closer, hips rocking closer, closer to the edge._

 _Moaning, loud moaning echoing through the bedroom._

 _Close, two bodies bathing in the afterglow._

Yang stared up at the bunk above her, eyes wide, breath ragged and spent. She was in a daze, as her blonde hair splayed out on the pillow.

Her tux had been discarded in the floor, along with every other item of clothing she owned and for the life of her she couldn't care less.

When Blake had said she was unconventional Yang had assumed she was shy, maybe she took it slow or like a softer touch.

Oh how wrong she had been.

Blake was… _intense_.

There was no other way to put it, she was like… Yang didn't even know. How did a bookworm who enjoyed peace and quiet and her own company become some kind of… of…

"Wow." She said at last, still breathless from all the craziness.

There was a rumble on her chest, and the blonde looked down at the warm, soft and _very_ naked body on top of her.

The Faunus chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment." She smiled slyly as she trailed a finger along the brawler's stomach, up and down her abs.

Yang couldn't help but stare at the girl on her chest. "Yeah well… I did know you invited me to this but I didn't expect _that._ " She laughed disbelievingly. How did a person even bend like that? Cat genes. It had to be her cat genes.

"You were good too," Blake assured. "I know I must have been a new experience for you, but you were a lot more gentle than I thought at first." ' _that hadn't lasted long once Blake had got going'_ was what was left unsaid. contray to what she was like at any other time, Yang had been reserved or... shy.

Yang blushed even now. "Yeah well, you're kind of the _only_ experience so… yeah."

Blake stopped, blinking, and pushing herself up to get a better look at her. Yang had to force herself to keep her eyes up.

"Yang," she whispered. "Was I… your first time?"

The blonde nodded. It was true, and the girl was reminded of what Yang had told her, about never getting past the third date.

Blake didn't look away, if anything, her eyes got wider. Then she stopped, catching herself and taking a breath.

Without a word, she leaned in close to Yang, and the blonde had a moment to be surprised before she was moaning into the kiss. The Faunus stopped, and nuzzled into Yang's neck, purring softly.

She wasn't even sure Blake knew she was doing it, but damn if it wasn't adorable.

"What as that for?" she couldn't help but ask.

The dark-haired girl hummed. "For letting me be your first," she said simply. "and for… being you."

"That's what you're thanking me for?" Yang snickered. "well if that's all it takes I can keep being myself."

Blake laughed along with her.

"I know you said we didn't have to be intimate but... I feel like this is a good thing. If... if you're as serious as I am about continuing."

"In a relationship? Yeah, I think I am."

The Faunus blinked again, looking up at Yang.

Suddenly she smiled, one filled with dark promise that made the blondes breath quicken. Or maybe that was the finger trailing up between her mounds.

Gentle, that same feather-light touch as before.

"B-Blake?"

"Yang." The smile grew, and her eyes smouldered again. "Do you want to go again?"

Yang's surprise was palpable, before the feeling morphed into excitement, into joy.

She answered sot with words at first, but by cupping Blake's waist, and rolling on the bed so that she held herself over the Faunus.

She grinned. "Do you even need to ask?" before diving in to press her lips on Blake's neck.

Blake tried to smile, but it became a moan before she could finish. "I'll take that as a yes." She said, before returning the gesture in kind.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby gave a tired sigh as she practically fell into a chair. Weiss followed on a moment after in very much the same state, yet both of them ad a smile on their faces.

"That was _so_ much fun!" she laughed, and smiled when Weiss joined in with her.

"It was," she agreed. "You were certainly a far better dancer than you let on."

The reaper rolled her eyes. "Not as good as those two." She said, pointing at Jaune and Pyrrha, who were still dancing together, the red-head laughing at something the boy said.

Weiss shook her head in disbelief.

"How that happened I have no idea." She paused. "I'll have to ask him later."

Ruby snickered. "You didn't think he had a chance?"

"Did you?"

She giggled. "Point."

Her eyes trailed absentmindedly to the rest of the party; to Ren and Nora over in the corner, the quiet boy smiling as Nora got up to her usual antics, an arm swung around Sun as they laughed together over something. Of Neptune chatting to some girls as they fawned over him. Hum, speaking of girls, where had Blake and Yang gotten to?

Lastly, her eyes fell to Amber, the guest of honour, who was laughing and dancing with some third years. She looked happy.

"So is that you danced out for now?" Ruby asked her partner.

The girl gave a breathy chuckle. "For now." She conceded.

"The younger girl nodded. "Alright then, I think I'm gonna go get some air then. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Weiss smiled. "Go ahead."

Ruby did just that, standing up and making her way outside to take a inhale the clear, cool air.

Tonight had been more fun than Ruby could have ever imagined. Had this been what she'd miss out in the wilds?

She wanted more, maybe she could- wait… what was that?

"Hello Friend Ruby!" the Atlas student waved, while simultaneously causing the red huntress to jump. "It is good to see you out here."

Ruby sighed and shook her head good-naturedly. "Penny," she gasped. "What are you doing out here?"

"Enjoying the cool breeze my friend. I saw you dancing with Weiss. You were quite wonderful."

"Um, thank you." She blushed. Before stopping. Her eyes fell back to the same place as before.

"Penny"

"Yes Ruby?"

"What does that look like to you?"

The excitable girl followed Ruby's line of sight and stilled at what she saw. An Atlesian solider, his body laying halfway in the bushes.

They ran over to the body.

Ruby kneeled down, checking for a pulse. She gave a sigh of relief. "He's alive." she assured.

Penny's shoulders relaxed a fraction she nodded. "How do you think this happened?"

Ruby bit her lip in thought, as her head turned to the tower.

"The CCT, she said. Someone's attacking it. We need to go in and stop them before they can do anything."

"Right!" I will call for back-up and join you."

The Beacon student nodded and ran into the tower, the other girl on her tail. Inside were more soldiers, thankfully none dead, although they would wake up broken and sore in quite a few places.

"They must be upstairs then," Ruby mumbled. She turned to Penny. "Alright, we need to get up there."

"Understood," Penny nodded. "I'm combat ready."

Right, she'd have to be. They called the elevator and hurried in, keying in the top floor and preparing herself for the likelihood of combat. The moving box was just big enough that she could open up Crescent Rose. Beside her, Penny armed herself with a single sword, although the reaper knew more were at the ready. They shared a last look and nodded as the door pinged open.

The entered the computer room cautiously, eyes scanning for threats. It was quiet, seemingly empty, but the screens of each computer were on. Power was spread out between all computers. If one was activated the others would be automatically. That meant someone had been here.

Maybe they still were.

Ruby licked her lips nervously. Alright, trying to see the enemy wasn't working, so the next approach was…

"Hello?" she called out. "We know you're here, come on out and maybe we can deal with this nice and peacefully."

In the silence Ruby heard a gasp that made her shiver, and suddenly she leapt away as a black arrow soared through the air towards her.

Penny called out her name as the attacker appeared; dressed in all black she was still moving, too fast in the dark for the red huntress to get a proper look between dodging another hail of arrows.

The Atlas student was beside her suddenly, deflecting one of the black projectiles with the flat of her sword.

"It seems we have found the attacker friend Ruby."

Another gasp and the hail of arrows increased.

Ruby dashed to the side to avoid them as they flew faster and faster, the black shadow of their attacker ducking and dashing behind monitors so that they couldn't tell where she was.

Ruby's only advantage was that she was fast enough physically to dodge them if someone didn't have that then-

" _Hrk!_ "

"Penny!" Ruby cried out, whipping around to see an arrow lodged in her chest, where her heart was.

The younger girl gasped in horror. Penny had just been-

She gasped again in shock as Penny reached for the arrow and _yanked_ it out of her chest. What was even more shocking was that no blood spewed forth, instead electrical wires could be seen. She didn't even look in pain.

What was this?

She didn't get time to ask, as the figure appeared once more, this time in full few as she let out a flurry of arrows at them.

Ruby got ready to smack them away, only to realise they'd missed.

No, not missed, not by accident anyway.

She just had enough time to burst into a flurry of her own before the arrowheads lit up and with a screech exploded in a flash of fiery light.

Ruby skirted back, almost tripping on her heels. She grit her teeth. She couldn't fight like this, not to their full ability when-

She froze; their attacker was aiming at them again, but had hesitated.

Just long enough for Ruby to get a look at her face.

She wore a black mask, covering the majority of her features, but even then, Ruby would never forget the eyes of her friend.

Her first friend.

"Cinder!"

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **Yep, that's where I'm ending it. You guys can think up what it means as much as you want until next week. SA I've said before, this, as well as the next few chapters are ones I had planned out in a lot of detail compared to others, but it was still difficult to write, mainly for the fact that I'm not sure I did the conversation between partners well or not.**

 **I suppose you'll have to be the judge of that.**

 **On the note of Judging, I have a new story coming out, starting clean as it was. It's a RWBY story, but a much different world than this one. THink medieval, yet still in Remnant with the Faunus at the bottom of the foodchain. It's... what do they call it? Monochrome centred? But I assure you it had a legitimate story. It should be up either today or tomorrow depending on if I can get the bugs ironed out.**

 **Right now though, I hope you enjoyed, and be sure to let me know what you thought of the fluff interactions. If you liked them or think of ways to improve them, let me know, and if you thought they were awful and cringe worthy, let me know why. Either way, I'll try to make them even better in the future.**

 **So Follow, favourite and Review.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (Slash) WSpectre**


	22. Igniting the Spark: Part 3

Mountain Glenn, when it was first erected, was designed to be the first of many cities for the people of Vale to inhabit. It was considered by many to be the Kingdoms first serious expansion and for a while settlers flocked to the city.

Many were eager to start a new life; a young couple for something new, others for a fresh start and some even made the venture to simple escape the confines of Vale.

While Mountain Glenn didn't possess the natural borders that allowed people from the main city to sleep soundly at night it did possess the funds and backing for incredible perimeter guards. This proved to work… for a time.

Still people were drawn to the city, more and more tempted by its success. Eventually even small businesses and companies decided it was safe to invest in such a place. One in particular decided it would set up its headquarters there.

Merlot Industries.

For a while everything was working well. However, this did not last. One day, without any warning the Grimm besieged Mountain Glenn, day in day out with no reprise for the inhabitants. It wasn't long before they were overrun.

Many already know how the story goes: the citizens held out for as long as they could before sealing themselves off in the underground tunnels and survived.

Just survived.

Until even that failed.

Then when the Grimm finally swarmed them they had nowhere to go but the tunnels leading back to Vale…

Which were destroyed in order to protect the City of Vale and its inhabitants.

The needs of the many outweighed the few in such a situation after all – at least according to the council – and Mountain Glenn became Remnants largest tomb.

Of course, in the aftermath there were those who survived, those with a will to live and the ability to do so that far exceeded their brethren.

One of these people was a woman, whose husband had died, and was left with a child yet to be born. With her home in ruin, family shattered and nothing to her name she wandered.

Then the child was born.

A beautiful child full of life and hope for new beginnings.

A hope her mother did not possess.

The woman was desperate. For the child, or perhaps herself, and so by luck, a miracle or even destiny she was able to find one last relative.

Really, she was the child's aunt, although with a child of her own and having to raise the child from before she could walk it was probably more accurate to call her a…

Step-mother.

But the child's true mother did not stay, in fact she disappeared. Perhaps her will had finally left her once she thought the child would live… or maybe she did not desire the responsibility of raising her without the man she had loved all that time ago.

The child – a tiny girl – was taken in by the stepmother.

But just as the moments before her life were filled with tragedy, so would her youth. For she was a child bound by a destiny she did not choose.

That child's name was Cinder Fall.

"Oi, Brat, get the fuck up here!"

"Coming!" Cinder called up the stairs, stopping her sweeping of the floor and hurrying up the stairs.

She entered her aunt and uncles bedroom, where a gruff and overweight man lay in bed.

"Yes sir?" Cinder asked, peeking her head through the door.

He grunted. "I'm hungry, go get me sumthin downstairs."

"Ah," the girl said. "What do you want?"

He glared at her. "Whatever the fuck is there, now go fucking do it!"

She flinched at his language, but nodded her head.

She shot the door gently, and made her way back down the stairs and over to the kitchen. She washed her hands in the sink first – last time she'd carried food with dirty hands she'd been punished for it – and open the refrigerator. The light wasn't working, and her uncle was too cheap to fix it, but it still kept food cold.

Cinder hummed as she tried to decide what to bring. He was hungry now, so it should be something quick. Soup maybe? That was really all she could make with the food in the house at the moment.

Right, that would do the job. She got to work, heating up some water and getting the ingredients ready for it. It was an easy enough job. The fourteen-year-old had done it enough times to be practised in it.

A few minutes later – minus a spill where she'd burnt her hands slightly – she was done, and carried the piping hot bowl up to him.

He wasn't impressed.

"The fuck have ben been? I've been waiting for ages."

 _It's been five minutes_ Cinder felt like saying, but knew that would lead to some very painful reprimands.

Instead she simply handed him the bowl. He looked down at it and sneered. "I don't want soup. Are you stupid?"

She paled. "But… you said it didn't matter what I made!"

"Use that head of yours you idiot, maybe you'll find a brain in there, I wanted something meaty. Get out."

She nodded rapidly, reaching for the bowl. She flinched when her hands were smacked away. "Leave it, I might as well have I if you're so keen on wasting it."

"R-right." She whispered, scurrying out as fast as she could before he needed something else of her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

She was so stupid" of course he wouldn't like soup of all things, her uncle was too picky for things like that! Idiot!

Cinder grit her teeth as she picked up the sweeping brush again. If her aunt saw her unoccupied she would flip out.

She sighed in defeat. It seemed like this house was always dusty or dirty in some way no matter how much she cleaned it. That wasn't her fault, it _wasn't!_

The wooden floors were splintered and rotting as it was, there was a hole in the trod and drafts slipping through the cracks in the walls. Her aunt and uncle just didn't bother to fix them.

If anything, the whole damned village was a mess. She wasn't allowed outside the house often, but it was filled with people who would be homeless anywhere else. A shanty town, shacks and run down homes littering the place. A ditty well in the centre was the only evidence that it had once been a thriving place. Again, not that Cinder knew much, she'd rarely ever been allowed out of the house, and any information she got on the world outside the village was from passers-by.

Suddenly the front door shunted open, and her aunt and cousin walked in.

Her aunt saw her in the room and sneered, turning to her own business and ignoring her.

Her… cousin on the other hand had a different idea.

The girl was the same age as Cinder, but for the life of her, if it wasn't for the fact her aunt was there as proof, Cinder wouldn't have thought them related.

Her aunt was fairly pretty for the place they lived, which made Cinder wonder sometimes, what did her mother look like? Her uncle wasn't, he was a brutish, ugly man, and it as clear that had passed on to their daughter.

Of course, Cinder wasn't dumb enough to say it out loud. Anastasia was vicious, and if she thought she could get her claws into something, she would.

She usually wore dresses, and showed them off whenever she could to make Cinder feel worse, who in comparison wore a patchy sweater too big for her that used to be pink but was now more grey and a ragged pair of brown shorts. It left her legs cold at night, but if she curled up and pulled her sweater over her knees it solved it a little.

Not that her cousin cared, in fact she seemed to enjoy Cinders misfortune.

Shaggy brown hair, the colour of mud, dirty, unkempt skin and nails and a nose that made her look like a dog despite not being a Faunas. She was ugly, both in body and soul, but she saw herself as perfect and cinder… Cinder was the one she targeted the most.

Today was just another one of those days.

Anastasia smirked nastily as she strode over to Cinder, looking down at her past her nose.

"Still cleaning cousin? I'd have thought you would make yourself useful and finished by now. Have you been slacking?"

"Uncle wanted something to eat." She mumbled quietly it was still enough for the other girl to hear, she knew that, so she felt a flash of anger when Anastasia cupped a hand to her ear.

"What was that? Speak up already; can't you speak like a normal person?"

"I- I said I made uncle something to eat. T-that's why it took so long."

"Really?" her cousin whispered, leaning in closer as a dangerous smile crossed her face. "I think you're just being. A waste. Of. Space."

With that, she kicked out with one foot, lashing out at Cinders shin. She cried out, and fell to the floor, with Anastasia looking down on her as she clutched her leg.

Her aunt suddenly arrived in the room again.

She saw Cinder on the floor and her sneer grew.

"Get up girl," She snarled. "I don't feed you to be useless. Our meal will be ready soon, prepare the table, now."

The girl nodded feebly and struggled to her feet. Her uncle came down stars, not so much as sparing her a glance as she stewed in her misery. The food was being cooked and when the smell reached her nose her stomach grumbled. How long had it been since her last meal? Had it been last night? Or the night before that?

If there were any leftovers, maybe she'd get to have them.

Cinder did what she was told and set the table for three. It was always a wonder for Cinder, why such a family, who lived in a shack of a house could have such… embroidery. That being, the red and gold material they used as a tablecloth.

It… it was Cinders, or at least it had been what she was wrapped in when her mother left her here. Something far too well-crafted for any family such as this.

So why had it belonged to Cinder?

It didn't matter, because for the last fourteen years it had been degraded to covering the mess her uncle made when he crammed food into his mouth.

She shook her head and sighed again. No, no point in thinking about it.

A few minutes later Cinder had their plates and cutlery set out and her Cousin and uncle were at the table. She made sure to keep her eyes low to avoid eye contact and giving them a reason. Last were the glasses and she made her way over to lift them.

Her aunt and Uncle were talking about… something, where they had been, what they had been doing. Not much in Cinders mind, what could be done in this waste of a town?

She made her way over to set the glasses down of the bale when a howl rang out.

She jumped in fright, stumbling as the glasses in her hands fell to the floor and shattered. The shards flew up, slicing her hands.

Her aunt's head whipped around to her with a face of fury.

"You idiot girl!" she screeched, storming over to her. "You're going to destroy my property just because of a mutt outside?!"

Cinder paled, her hands were bleeding now, but she was more concerned with two things; first, her aunt's rage, which she knew from experience manifested in cruelty, and second… "But," She tried. "That wasn't a dog, it wasn't!"

Her sneer grew. "How dare you, talking back to me like that?! Are you brainless? Of course it's a dog, wolves haven't lived in these lands for years."

"But-"

Cinder was silenced as her aunt backhanded her across the mouth. She stumbled, barely managing to stay on her feet.

The woman wasn't finished though, taking Cinders arm in a vice grip and dragging her way. "I think that's enough for tonight, maybe for tomorrow either, you're going to your bed and if I hear a peep out of you, you'll be sorry."

With that, she was brought to the back of the house. Her aunt kicked the carpet away and opened the trap door. She threw Cinder roughly down the steps and she cried out as she hit the floor.

The door slammed shut before she could even turn back, and there was the sound of a latch clicking shut.

Cinder was left there, with no light but the cracks in the floor above. Her eyes adjusted after a minute and she was left clutching her hands, which were still bleeding. The ruby liquid dripped onto the floor and in desperation to try and staunch it, or at least lessen the pain she pressed the palms of her hand hard against her legs. As hard as she could just to stop it.

Tears burned at the corner of her eyes as she grit her teeth. She hated this, she hated this!

She should have just kept her mouth shut and-

Another howl rang out, louder than last time. She stilled. What was that? Cinder remembered the sounds of wolves from when she was younger, littler. This was… this wasn't it. It was louder, deeper, angrier.

She swallowed. Another howl, followed by another, and another and then ten more, then twenty, all at once.

And then the screaming began

It erupted all at once, people outside screamed in fear and terror, louder and louder. The sound of splinter wood and stone had Cinder shaking as those horrific howls grew clearer and clearer. Sudden the cries of people became strangled and she knew someone had just died.

There was shouting upstairs from her aunt and uncle, panicked, angry. There was a crash of class and screaming. The trapdoor suddenly burst open, and her cousin scrambled down the stairs, slamming it behind her. She was breathing heavily, and when she saw Cinder, her eyes widened and she snarled.

"Move!" The girl ordered, scrambling to where she was sat against the wall. She grabbed at Cinder, and threw her to the side, into the corner of the room. Anastasia desperately scrapped against the wall, as if she could dig her way out.

Then, the noise stopped.

It… it was still there, outside the house people still screamed, but whoever, whatever was in the house had stopped moving.

Cinder and Anastasia froze, and their eyes drifted up.

And then it growled.

Anastasia whimpered, and the heavy thumps of paws got closer and closer to the trapdoor.

Cinder held her breath, pressing as far back into the wall as possible.

Before Cinder knew what was happening, a beast of black barrelled through the door, and Anastasia screamed.

It snarled at her, drool and spit flying from its mouth.

Cinder stared, heart hammering in her chest. What… what was this thing? Was it… a Grimm? This was the monster she'd heard so many stories about? Oh… it was.

She was going to die, she realised. It was going to kill her.

She was scared, terrified even, so much so it had her shivering and pale, or that might have been the blood.

But she was quieter than Anastasia.

The wolf monster lunged at her cousin with its claws outstretched.

Cinder watched in frozen fear as it ripped the girl to shreds, blood, bone and flesh sent scattering across the floor and walls.

She couldn't move, as its fangs tore out the girl she'd known for fourteen years throat she realised she couldn't move. Was this how she was going to die? Staring at the mangled corpse of a girl who'd tormented her.

And what was worse, was that she felt sorry for her. Cinder thought in the hysterical part of her mind that if Anastasia died one day she wouldn't have minded. She did, for some reason she did. The fear creeping further into her heart.

The monsters head swivelled round to her instantly, and Cinder met the glowing, burning red eyes head on.

Her body was shocked awake as it lunged at her.

Cinder screamed, throwing her hands over her face, in a tearful effort not to see her own death coming. There was a shunt and a crash, a shatter and a crack and the monster howled in rage.

But it was muffled.

As it roared and roared the teen forced her eyes open and gasped at what she saw. A wall of… of glass, shooting up to the ceiling above and cocooning around her. It was thick, thick enough that the view outside was blurry and misty.

There was a glow and Cinder stared as an orange light shined off her skin. She winced as her cuts burned, before the light suddenly blinked out. They… they were still bleeding, but not as much.

Her relief was short lived however, as the Grimm howled, and bashed against the glass. Throwing its heavy body against it again and again relentlessly.

Her panicked breath grew heavier, and her eyes went wide. The class cracked. More and more. her eyes sought out the biggest crack in the wall, right in front of her face. It grew bigger and bigger with each it, spider-webbing out.

The glass, however it had appeared, wouldn't hold. Cinder whimpered and clenched her eyes shut.

"Please!" she begged. "Someone save me."

The monster gave a triumphant howl as it made for one last hit.

When there was another crash from above.

The wolf's howls suddenly became hostile and it growled. Cinder kept her eyes shut as she heard it move, then cry out as the sound of gunfire rang out and a rasp of steel could be heard.

The monster cried out, yipping like a dog before the sound of a body could be heard.

Cinder breathed heavily, her eyes still closed, listening out in the sudden silence.

She flinched at the sudden tapping on the glass, but it wasn't violent so….

Cinder hesitantly opened her eyes to see the blurry figure of a person cloaked in red.

"Hello?" a girl's voice called out. "Are you all right in there?"

She stared and watched in shock as the glass seemed to retract back. Back… into her arms, which had been covered in glass.

Had that…. Come from her?

She looked up suddenly, remembering the other person in the room and gasped in shock.

It was a girl but…

The girl was smaller than her, she looked about ten, dressed in a slightly oversized red hood and some kind of goth red and black skirt.

Oh, and she carried a massive scythe in her arms.

Cinder stared up as the dots connected in her head.

"You… saved me."

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I heard you cry out so I got here as fast as I could, sorry i-"

She was cut off as Cinder dived forward, wrapping her arms around her saviour.

" _Thank you_ , thank you, thank you, thank you." She wept, repeating the mantra over and over again, as the girl laid a hesitant hand on her back.

"Come on," the younger girl said. "We need to get back to my Uncle Qrow."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Cinder felt heavy. There was a weight on her body that hadn't been there before. She felt drained, tired as she was led gently by the hand out of her house by the smaller girl.

She looked around at the destruction outside. The moon shone down as houses burned. They were on fire, and in the streets were dozens of dead Torn corpses bleeding pools of red underneath. Some of them were without limbs, others had been opened up by fangs and claws. Some stared into oblivion with their dead eyes and some had no heads at all.

Cinder looked down at the girl leading her through it all. _She_ looked at it all so different than her. There was no fear or terror, only disgust and something she couldn't quite place. Maybe that was because of the oversized Scythe she wielded. Maybe it was because she'd already killed one of the monsters.

Cinder didn't know, but for the moment at least. She wouldn't question it. What could she do anyway, run? She didn't have the first idea where she'd go.

They continued their way through the village, passing more blood, and more corpses. But the further they went, the more of those corpses were Grimm instead of human.

They were dissolving quickly, and the younger girl told her they were getting close.

Close to whoever this Qrow person was?

If he could slaughter these beasts so easily, did she want to be close to that?

It looked like she was about to have that decision made for her a moment later, as the two children turned the corner.

Cinder gasped. There, in the centre of carnage, of dozens of Grimm leading into the night stood man.

He had dark black hair, a grey dress shirt and tattered cloak, shorter than the girls. He also had dull red eyes that glinted dangerously.

And a massive sword resting on his shoulder.

He saw them coming and made his way over slowly.

Cinder kept her mouth shut as they approached. All that could be heard for a moment was the crackling of fire around them.

The man sighed. "I got the rest of the Grimm, but I couldn't find anyone alive on my side of town… looks like they're… gone." He looked down at the smaller girl and frowned. "What about you Ruby? You ran off suddenly, which we _are_ going to have a talk about… but it looks like you found someone."

"This… is the only one left."

Cinder blinked, the words actually taking a moment for her to process. She… was the last person?

The man, Qrow, sighed again and kneeled down to her eye-level. "Well kind, I don't know what I'm really supposed to say to you here… but… everybody else here is dead. You're the only survivor."

" _Uncle Qrow!"_ The girl in red hissed. "That's not how you tell someone something like that!"

"Yeah well…" he rasped, before giving up and getting back up to his feet. He turned around and began to walk. "Come on Ruby, we need to go before more Grimm turn up."

What? No, they were going to-

"We're taking her with us, right?" Ruby asked her uncle. Cinders eyes flicked back and forth between them.

"Well we can't just leave her here. That would kinda defeat the purpose. Wouldn't it?"

Ruby nodded and turned to smile at the older girl. "Let's go. We can get somewhere safe first."

"I…" Cinder tried, but the words failed her. They were going to… go somewhere safe? Did that mean out of the village?

Did… she dare even follow? She'd _never_ left the village before. She didn't know what was out there.

Ruby didn't seem to notice her dilemma, and took Cinder's hand in hers. The older girl was startled by the contact, and at last noticed that her saviour's eyes were… silver.

The silver-eyed girl smiled widely.

"We'll take care of you, what's your name."

She bit her lip hesitantly. She had no reason not to say anything and…

"Cinder," she said after a moment. "My names Cinder Fall."

Ruby's smile grew. "Wow, that's a nice name."

The man behind her sighed. "Are you two coming? The smell of burning isn't something I want to get used to."

Well… it's not like she had much to lose at this point.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The so-called 'safe' place was in fact a cave, just a mile east of the village. It didn't take them long to get there but when they did Qrow sighed.

"Damn, and here I was hoping we could have some good food and night's sleep in that place… gone just like that."

You wouldn't have gotten it anyway." Cinder mumbled. Her gaze was set on the floor, so she didn't see the way the man eyes flickered to her.

She was still holding Ruby's hand.

"So kid," he said as she sat down. Kneeling in front of a pit of stones he began to light a fire. "What's your story?"

"Huh?"

"Well you gotta have something to tell us? You managed to survive right? Must mean you're strong."

She didn't know about that. More like luck if she had any idea. She looked down at her hand, the one not in Ruby's grasp. She focused on it, trying to call back that feeling from before.

Shards of glass formed on her skin. Only for a moment.

Qrow hummed.

"So?" he pressed.

When she didn't answer, Ruby took her place, setting her down on one of the logs now around a lit fire.

"I heard screaming from one of the houses. A man and a woman were dead in the kitchen and I could hear the Grimm in the back. I followed the noise down to the basement and found it hitting a glass wall."

"And this girl was behind it." he finished. "Gotta say kid, you were lucky."

Cinder nodded, that she was, for that she could be-

"But stupid."

She blanched.

"Uncle Qrow!"

He didn't look apologetic. "It's the truth. You hid yourself behind a wall, and if Ruby came in from the only entrance, it meant you were trapped there. Grimm don't get tired. It would have broken it down eventually and you'd be dead like your parents, you're just lucky we came along."

He… wasn't wrong. She'd almost died, just a second or two more and there mightn't have been anything left to save. Its only thanks to them that she was alive, and she knew she should be thankful for that, she was… but, a childish notion still lingered.

"They weren't my parents." She murmured.

He blinked. "What was that?"

"They weren't my parents. It was my aunt and uncle."

Ruby grimaced. "So the… the other person down there was your what, Cousin?"

She nodded. Ruby accepted that with a nod of her own, but Qrow's eyes were on her now, sharpened.

"So," he said. "How bad did they treat you?"

She flinched. "W-what?"

"I'm not dumb kid, after the crap you just saw, and knowing they're dead you should be a little more affected by it. Maybe you are, but your first instinct shouldn't be to correct me when I call them your parents. So… how bad did they treat you?"

Cinder didn't answer at first. Who would want to talk about all the crap in their life? But, there was something in his look that broke down her defences, or maybe it was just a feeling of sympathy she hadn't felt before. But her defiance crumbled quickly.

So she told them. She told them about how her mother was dead, how she never knew her, nor her father. She told them how she slept on the floor of the basement, how she got maybe one meal a day and how she would hide away when her uncle got drunk, or her aunt was in a bad mood. She talked about her cousin, who was responsible for more than a few of her beatings. And when she had nothing left to talk about in her pathetic life her words died of, leaving her to stare at her hands and knees. Unsure of what else to say.

And when she was done, Qrow looked older than he had when she'd started. His head fell into his hands as he let out a tired groan. "This is a mess." he said after a moment. "I felt bad for the bastards in that town at first, but if it's like that…. Shit."

Ruby hadn't let go of her hand and now she looked at Cinder with a sorry gaze. It… wasn't pity, she didn't know how she could tell but it wasn't. It was like she was… upset she couldn't do more.

Those silver eyes calmed her for some reason, and she didn't move away when the smaller girl leaned into her.

"Well, there's not much we can do tonight." Qrow spoke again. "I'll keep first watch. You two get some sleep, and tomorrow we'll find someone who'll take you in, in the next village."

Cinders eyes widened. They were going to drop her off? Leave her behind?! No!

"No?"

Her mouth clicked shut. She'd said that aloud. He was looking at her now, with a raised eyebrow as if to question her.

What was she supposed to say? What had she meant no? Did she even know what she wanted?

…Yes, yes she did.

"I… want to say with you two." She whispered. "I don't want to live in an orphanage with strangers.

" _We're_ strangers' kid."

Her shoulders slumped. Well they had her there, but it felt different.

"Of course you can come with us!" Ruby cheered suddenly.

The two of them startled, and turned to stare at the youngest of the three.

Qrow didn't look impressed. "Ruby, no, we can't bring someone else along with us. It's too dangerous."

"But we can keep her safe!" the reaper argued. "You taught me how to fight, can't you teach her?"

"That's not what I mean," he growled. "The whole point of the two of us to stay on the move, stay low and keep to ourselves so that you're safe."

"It's just one more person!"

"Are even listening? This is serious. It's not like Grimm are the only thing we'll have to deal with. No, I'm putting my foot down on this. End of story."

Ruby didn't look like she agreed, levelling a glare at her uncle. It wasn't much for a ten-year-old, coming off more as a pout than anything else, but along with Cinders pleading looks, it was hard to resist.

" _Please!_ " she begged.

The gruff huntsmen clenched his eye shut and let out a suffering breathe. He tilted his head back to the ceiling. Why did he have to be the bad guy in this? He knew he was right. It was too dangerous, for all of them. Bringing an extra body along was bad enough, but a kid? In the state they were in? She'd be dead the first time they came across something more dangerous than a Grimm. Not to mention what they were doing. On the run, from village to village, never stopping for too long and never being able to form attachments with people. They were being hunted, and if this girl came with them she would be too. It was cruel to act like this would be a future worth living. So why?

"Do realise what you'll be getting into kid?"

"Huh?"

"It'll be crap, most of the time. Most nights this is the best we get in terms of sleeping, food only comes when we catch it ourselves or if we get lucky and a merchant passes through a town because we can't risk people remembering our faces. People are looking for us, really dangerous people who'd kill you without a second thought."

He glared at her, trying to impress the gravity of what he was saying onto her.

"Every day you might die, and I'll be honest kid, I won't prioritise you. I don't know you, if I comes between a choice of you and Ruby I'll let you die."

"Qrow!"

"Quiet Ruby, she needs to know just how bad this'll be. Listen girl, there's more than just the Grimm to be afraid of out in the world. There are things more terrifying than your wildest dreams, monsters and things that go bump in the night that'll find all sorts of ways to make you scream while you die. This is serious. It's not something you should choose just because you don't want to meet a few strangers." He glared again

"Well?"

There was a beat of silence, and Qrow sighed. "There we go." That was it, she knew now that-"

"What's your point?"

He stopped. "What?"

"I said what's your point?" She wasn't glaring at him, but the smile she wore was bitter.

"Fear of death came with every day of my life, wondering when they'd stop feeding me or throwing me into a dark room was the usual. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you two, so what does it matter if I die with you? I don't have anything else, but I _won't_ be trapped in another no-name village to rot away the rest of my life. You said there're people chasing you? Fine,, I'll be there with you because I'd rather run than be trapped in a cage… I should be dead already, what does it matter if it happens while with you?"

Well… shit. What could he say to that? Sorry kid, but even if you'd rather die I'm sticking you in an orphanage? This was where the phrase a rock and a hard place came from. Both decisions sucked.

But… even he could tell one of the choices in front of him was the lesser of two evils. He just hoped he was choosing the right one.

"Fine." He said at last. "If you're going to feel like that there's not much else we can do is there?"

Ruby cheered happily a, An Cinder gasped in relief. She sank back onto the log tiredly.

"Thank you." She whispered. "You won't regret this."

"Yeah, we'll see." He rolled his eyes.

"Now go to sleep already. We're wasting nightlight."

"Oh this is great!" the red-cloaked grinned happily. "I've never had anyone to talk to but Uncle Qrow. Don't worry, he's _really_ strong for an old guy-"

"Hey!"

"- I'm sure he can help you get stronger too, especially with your awesome semblance."

"Sleep. Now!"

"Got it!" Ruby called as she rolled out a sleeping bag. She stopped and blinked.

"Oh… we've only got one." She said.

"T-that's okay." Cinder told her. "I can just sleep on the floo-"

"Nope!"

"What?"

"I said nope," the younger girl grinned. "Come on, I'm sure we can both squeeze in."

She swallowed. "Really, it's fine-"

"Nope!"

"You can't just say nope to everything; you know that right?"

"Nope!"

Cinder sighed, and resignedly got into the sleeping bag. It was just big enough for the two of them, even if it was a tight squeeze.

It might have been the small body next to her, but it was… warmer than she'd thought. Warmer than she'd ever been at night. Ruby was still looking at her, as if it was polite waiting for her to close her eyes so she could go to sleep to.

Cinder smiled despite herself, and let her eyes flutter closed.

She could feel the younger girls breath even out after that, and the sound was calming. The campfire crackled in her ears gently, and the muttering of the old huntsman's muttering could be heard at the entrance of the cave.

Soon after, sleep came to take her.

…

…

Cinder leaned down to get a better look at the stall's produce. Th food looked fresh, but so had it last week. Whoever that merchant had been, he'd stiff them on food about to go bad. Qrow had laughed at her the rest of the day when she'd come back with it.

"And you're sure these are the newest you've received"

"They are." The man behind the stall confirmed. "Just two days ago. It's all fruit young miss, it should last you a least a week, in its current state."

"And it _is_ a good price." She groused. "Alright, how much for a mix of twenty?"

"Thirty Lien." He said.

She nodded. "Alright, here you go." She said, handing him the plastic cards."

As she was reviewing the food a red blur hurried through the crowd towards her.

"Cinder!" the blur called out, skidding to a stop beside her. "There you are, I've been looking for you for the last ten minutes."

The older girl raised an eyebrow and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Couldn't you have just called me? That seems like it would have been easier."

"Uncle Qrow has my scroll." She replied glumly.

"And that's a problem because?"

"That's why I've been looking for you!"

Cinder understood a second later and slapped a hand against her face. "Qrow's drunk again isn't he?"

"Yeah, and this time he's barricaded himself in the corner of the towns bar. There were tables and everything last time I saw it."

"Which was ten minutes ago?"

"Uh-huh."

"So he's probably built a fortress out of chairs in his drunkenness." She shook her head. "That's the fourth time this month."

Ruby laughed. "I think he's going for a record."

"As to the last six weeks before when he didn't get drunk once?"

"Yeah you're right, maybe it's a relapse?"

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Qrow's not an addict, he's strong enough to stop whenever he wants. He _likes_ getting drunk."

"So… are you coming?" the Reaper asked."

The teen gave a long sigh before grumbling. "He better not ruin this dress, I just got it."

Ruby nodded, as she turned to lead Cinder back to the bar. "It's a nice dress," she said. "It looks good on you."

"A-ah…" she blushed suddenly from behind Ruby. "Thank you."

She shook her head before Ruby could see. Stupid, what was wrong with her!? Getting so excited over a simple compliment.

She hoisted the bag of groceries higher onto her shoulder, and looked down at her dress again.

It _was_ a nice dress; a dark crimson with gold threading along the sides. It came up to just above the knee, and had long sleeves. Qrow had been insistent that if she was going to wear it she had to wear tights too, so that she didn't 'bring the wrong kind of attention' to herself.

Ha! Qrow was just being an old (Over-protective) geezer. If some creep tried anything with her she'd glass them.

Although, when she'd said that, the man had sulked for the rest of the day, muttering about how he was still in his prime. She'd caved in and worn the black tights, if only to appease his protective streak.

She frowned. If Qrow threw up on this dress so help her she'd ram her heels up his-

"We're here." Ruby said, stopping in front of a bar by the name of 'Dancing Pony' a crowd had formed around the entrance, and people peered in curiously as the sound of crashing could be heard from inside.

Yep, that was Qrow.

Come on!" the younger girl said, dashing in before Cinder could tell her to wait. She sighed, following after the girl. The crowd parted for her, if only because she shot glares at anyone who didn't.

When she walked in, it was as she'd expected, but… also slightly more ridiculous.

Qrow was in one corner of the bar as Ruby had said, with tables flipped over to form make-shift barriers, and chairs locking them in place. he had an empty beer bottle in one hand, and was brandishing it as a club. That, honestly, was the expected part. Where it got weird was the men who obviously worked her holding chaired in front of them, as if to fight back a lion. One even had a whip, somehow.

"Back!" Qrow barked "Back I say! You'll never take me alive. I'll fight you to my last breath!"

Again, Cinders face found her palm. What made it even more ridiculous was Ruby sitting on the side-lines atop a table, swinging her legs back and forth as she giggled at the scene.

This was her life now.

This.

"Alright," she muttered, pulling up her sleeves and marching over to the mess. "Let's get this over with."

What followed was a cacophony of cries as civilians witnessed a fifteen-year-old girl drag a drunk, trained huntsman out of the bar by his hair. There was shouting, cursing, a few kicks from the teen as she tried to subdue the man, and a lot, a _lot_ of broken bottles _._

Ten minutes later Qrow was bent over a bush, throwing up while Ruby patted his back sympathetically.

Cinder stood glaring down at him, arms crossed and hair out of place. Mercifully, perhaps for him, her dress had not been damaged other than a few scuff marks that could be cleaned later. It wasn't too bad, but Cinder wasn't having a moment of generosity.

"And this is why you need someone to watch you at all times old man," she scowled. "I take my off of you and you get drunk off your face!"

"Bah!" the Huntsman dismissed. "Look at you lecturing me. What are you my mother?"

"No, but I assume anyone curse with you as their offspring would probably have more of a drinking problem than you, so what really can I expect?"

Qrow groaned. "Fine, fine, just gimme a minute and I'll be back on my feet."

"You better, are you coming Ruby?"

"Yeah," she grinned back at her Uncle. "Try not to get drunk again as we leave old timer."

"Har har, you're hilarious." He said in a deadpan voice.

Cinder rolled her eyes and stepped away, out into the town square where people mulled back and forth on their own business. It helped that she got away from that smell as well. At the very least, she could enjoy the warmth of the sun of a bright summer's day. It was something she'd certainly learned to love.

"Well that was something," Ruby said as she stopped beside her. "Are you okay Cinder?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Nah it's nothing, you just looked kinda mad when you had to drag Uncle Qrow out of the bar."

She laughed. "I think anyone would be angry at that."

"Eh, probably."

There was a moment of silence as they watched people in front of them.

"So," Cinder started. "Where to next after this?"

The younger girl shrugged. "I don't know. Uncle Qrow said we're heading further south. To one of the coastal villages I think further down Vale.

"Again?" She grimaced. "Weren't we just there a few weeks ago? Is it a good idea to backtrack right now?"

"Probably not, but he got a message from Ozpin."

Ozpin. That was a name Cinder heard a lot. Some mysterious leader that Qrow worked for, or at least mysterious to her. According to Ruby, Ozpin was a nice man. Probably, she trusted Ruby's judgment, but she'd never exactly had the chance to form her own option on him. They'd never met, and as far as she knew Ozpin hadn't been informed that she was a tag-along with the two scythe wielders.

Still, she would like to meet him eventually.

"Really? What did it say?"

"It's pretty big stuff." Ruby admitted. "Apparently there's a new Fall maiden now. Happened two days ago, or at least that's when the headmaster heard about it."

"Really?" she asked, suddenly interested. The maidens were always something she loved hearing about. Magic like that, magic at all in fact, sparked a wonder Cinder couldn't ignore, but such magic as powerful as the Maidens? That was something else entirely.

She'd been warned though, by Qrow that being a Maiden had the price of being hunted nearly all the time. Well, it wasn't like that wasn't happening to her anyway.

"What happened to the last one then? Was she killed?"

Ruby shook her head. "I don't think so, just old age. From what I heard the power went to her granddaughter. Apparently she never told her about magic."

"Yikes." She winced. Whoever the new Maiden was she at least had her sympathy in that. Being dragged into this world unknowingly would be hard on anyone. "So… what? We're going to find them or something?"

"No, I think it's the other way around, I mean, she's not looking for us, but as in we're going in the other direction."

Cinder frowned. "Why? Wouldn't it be better to have people looking after her?"

Ruby nodded. " _I_ think it would be, but apparently she's refusing help, ran off as soon as Ozpin sent someone for her. She's vulnerable, and she's a target, but more than that she'd kind of dangerous to people around her. Uncle Qrow says we're going the other way to draw potential hunters away from her as well as keep ourselves safe."

The older girl nodded slowly. That sort of made sense. It wasn't the best plan, but if the new Maiden was being uncooperative, and was as untrained and volatile a scared girl could be then it as probably better they split up the hunters. Even the way she was, a Maiden should be able to deal with a few of them so long as she had some of Ozpin's other agents hanging back.

As for them, well they had Qrow, and Cinder liked to think she was getting good enough to help protect Ruby. Which reminded her.

"You know, I still don't see the big deal with the enemy hunting you," Cinder admitted. "I mean, I I get that your eyes are supposed to be special but I haven't actually seen them _do_ anything."

Ruby slumped. "Ugh, neither have I. Ozpin and my Uncle just keeps saying they have some special power. Not like they'll tell me what it is other than being strong against Grimm."

Just then there was a shiver up Cinders spine. Something warning her. Her eyes locked onto the square, searching for anyone who might be looking their way…

Nothing. What was that?

"Hey, I'm up." Qrow suddenly called from the alley behind them. He slung his arms around each of their shoulders. "You two ready to get going?"

There was a murmur of a reply. He rolled his eyes as a grin cracked across his face. "Alright, alright, I'll make it up to ya. Hey Cinder, you want to practice making some of those glass swords again as we walk?"

They perked up at that, Cinder for the offer of training and Ruby because she loved watching Cinder use her semblance.

He laughed at their reaction as he led them away, out of the village.

They didn't see the people watching them as they left.

But for now, those strangers kept their distance, leaving the three of them to their own devices.

It would be another few years before things changed again, between their travels throughout Vale, and the many adventures Cinder and Ruby would get into, as well as just as much trouble, but, they _would_ change. When Cinder turned seventeen, and bid her friends goodbye, taking a ship to mistral, and promised to return one day as a fully-fledged huntress.

Things don't always turn out the way you expect them to however.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby swallowed nervously as she stared down the bow sights.

Cinder held it drawn, ready to fire. But she was hesitating, and even beneath the mask the young-huntress-in-training could see it in her eyes.

"That _is_ you, isn't it Cinder?"

The black-clad figure breathed heavily.

"You shouldn't be here," she growled. "You're two years early. You should still be with Qrow!"

"Cinder just tell me what's going on!" Ruby appealed, taking a step forward. The infiltrator flinched but held the bowstring tight. Ruby knew she wasn't prepared to shot. "You told us you were going to Haven, what happened?"

"Is that really important right now?" she snapped. "This isn't the part where you ask questions Ruby."

"Then just TELL me what's-" she froze, eyes going wide with horror. "You can't…" she whispered. "You're Romans…" she shook her head. "Why!?" she cried, louder this time. Behind her, the nearly forgotten Penny shifted warily, unsure of what to do.

"You're working for her? For Salem? She hunted us for years!"

Cinder glared. "She made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

This was bad, the half-maiden thought. This whole plane relied on stealth, on infiltrating the festival with her team. If Ruby was here the whole thing was shot. She needed a new one.

But first.

Cinder took another breath, and that was all the warning the reaper got to dodge before an arrow fired through the space her head had occupied all of a second ago. It wasn't quite a miss, and Ruby winced as the tip sliced her cheek.

Heat grew in her palms as she rushed the two younger huntresses. The Penny girl raised a sword in time to block her own made of carbon fibre blades. The shattered instantly upon impact, but that was the idea, the shards flying into the girls face and startling her for a second. Cinder lashed out with a kick, sending her careening back into the wall.

She leapt back in time to avoid Crescent Rose as it came down in the space between them

Cinder's eyes bore into silver. She didn't let her maiden powers show, that would be too risky.

"That attack was slower than you're others," she said. "You're holding back."

Ruby opened her mouth to say something when the elevator dinged behind them. Someone had called it.

Her eyes widened and she spun on her heels, dashing towards the window. She needed to get out of her before people came to reinforce them.

"Wait!"

She stopped, almost against her will as Ruby called out. She didn't turn around, getting ready to move at the tiniest notice.

"This isn't you Cinder," Ruby cried. "Just talk for a second and we… we can have this all figured out. You know what their planning don't you? Please!"

She growled under her breath. Leave it to Ruby to make her hesitate so far into the game. No, she wasn't going to turn back o it.

But… the plan was already ruined. They'd need a new one. Which meant she could perhaps manufacture something else.

"Merlot," she said aloud. "Merlot industries had been occupied again, in Mountain Glenn."

Cinder could practically _feel_ Ruby's smile without even looking.

"That's-"

"This isn't to help you," she snapped. "This is for myself. An easy way to get rid of you, and a way to get revenge on that man for what he did to me. I'll warn you once; if you go travel to Mountain Glenn, whoever you send, whatever team Ozpin trusts to fight there… I guarantee at least one of you will die. Maybe more."

That would be it. It had nothing to do with her. If Ruby died there because of her own foolishness even with her warning then she would not care for her fate.

She wouldn't.

The elevator rang out again and the three of them tensed. It was about open. Well, if she was going to leave she might as well have a parting word.

She held Ruby's gaze for a moment longer and smirked as best she could. "Tell the old bird he's gotten old since the last time I saw him."

"Ci-"

She didn't wait, lunging forward as the door opened and General Ironwood, along with the headmistress of Beacon stepped out of the elevator.

There was a cry from the woman behind her as her body hurtled through the thick layer of glass and she fell to the ground below.

At the last second, her eye flared and flames shot out from her hands. It slowed her descent just enough that she was able to roll to a stop.

She got up and brushed herself off. Right, she couldn't go back to the dance, not with her cover blown.

An alarm cut through her thoughts suddenly, and her eyes widened.

There were shouts from inside the ballroom, students wanting to know what was going on as Atlesian soldiers spread through the grounds.

Cinder ran for it.

Heading towards the cliffs into the city.

She needed to get out of Beacon.

Watts was going to have a field day with this.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Back up in the carnage that was the CCT, the four remaining people stared at each other in shock.

Or, at least Miss Goodwitch stared at them. Ironwood was already inspecting the computers trying to see what damage was done, and perhaps trying to direct the situation onto what he felt was a more important matter.

But there was no ignoring what the woman saw in front of her.

A destroyed communication centre, scorch marks on the walls, Ruby looking suitably worse for wear in her prom dress, the alarms ringing in her ear, and the sounds of panicked shouting from below. Oh, and a girl with a hole where her heart should be and sparks shooting out from it.

This whole thing was too much even for her all at once.

"What just happened here?"

...

* * *

 **And that's the end of this chapter. This of course is a big step away from Cannon, what with Cinder's backstory. Mainly because she actually _has_ a backstory now, since RT haven't given her one yet. they might later, and it will probably be better than this, but it's just another example of how this isn't the same story you're used to.**

 _ **So**_ **Ruby and Cinder used to be besties, kind of one of the major plot points here but you'll have to see how it works out. as of right now we'll be moving on to will be the most... intense few chapters. at least I hope so. Next week should at least have you excited.**

 **I'd also like to thank anyone who took a look at my other RWBY story _Unbroken_ it takes a different theme than this one and I was wondering what the reception to the first chapter would be. Seems positive so far.**

 **Still would like more Reviews though, even if they're not completely positive the best feeling for me is reading reviews and knowing how people see these stories.**

 **Anyway, that's all for now. Be sure to follow and Favourite if you liked it, and also make sure to Review, feedback is always read and appreciated.**

 **Until next time.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	23. Death under the mountain: Part 1

Ruby kept her eyes glued to her feet as Ozpin sat in his chair, back turned to her so she couldn't see his expression, but she knew it was bad.

Not just at her, but the… recent development.

Goodwitch, Penny and Ironwood were also in the room. And it was the general tasked with explaining himself.

"Oz you have to listen to me," he said. "This isn't a conspiracy against you."

"Isn't it?" the headmaster of beacon hummed. He still didn't look their way. "From what I can tell you designed a machine as a little girl, trained it to be a huntress and told me nothing of it. It begs the question, what were you planning exactly?"

His fellow headmaster straightened. "Penny in an operative, the first of her kind, a machine with aura and its own thought process."

"Oh I know _what_ it is," Ozpin dismissed with a wave. "I can see that from the hole in its chest. What I can't understand is why you haven't gotten rid of it yet.

Penny froze, beginning to shake even if she didn't look up from the floor. Ruby clenched her fists.

"Ozpin please, there's no need for this. Penny is a valued-"

"A secret you kept from me!" the man suddenly snapped, spinning around to face them. His eyes were like thunder. "There is no need to deceive the Grimm, not with this _thing_ so that only leaves the reason for its creation was to deceive me."

"It's not like that sir." Penny interjected frantically.

The wizard's eyes snapped to the machine-girl and narrowed. She continued.

"I was created my General Ironwood and my father to save the world. The Grimm may not be able to tell the difference but its human allies can. I… was a test to see if aura could be implanted in machines, and it can, with something else." She looked down at her hands. "I have a soul."

Ozpin didn't look impressed. "Be that as you say, it does not make it true. To trust a machine with-"

"Penny isn't a machine."

Again, the headmaster was interrupted, but this time by Ruby. He frowned.

"Do not involve yourself in this Miss Rose."

She met his gaze defiantly; silver piecing what she hoped was through him. She went on.

"Penny is just as much a huntress-in-training as the rest of us. She has aura, she's not just some robot she's an android." She glanced at the girl next to her and nodded. "She's my friend."

Penny jumped at that, and stared at the girl in red with shock.

In gave Ironwood the opportunity to step in.

"You must see that if Miss Rose trusts her then I have made the right choice here Ozpin. You know I would not work against you. Please believe me on this."

The Beacon Headmaster didn't look away from Ruby, and she didn't back down. All she needed was one more word.

"Pinocchio."

It was enough. The wizard looked away.

"Very well," he relented after a moment. "I will forgive it for now, but do not keep secrets from me again James. Is that understood?"

"Of course Oz."

He nodded. "Very well then. Now, on to the next matter… the attack on the CCT. Glynda, what is the damage?"

"The terminals in the centre of the room are destroyed, but the majority were left undamaged. We know the infiltrator was there to do something with the network, but so far we have been unable to find out just what it was."

"My men will look into it." Ironwood promised. "Whatever they were planning to do is no doubt dangerous, we cannot let it succeed."

Ozpin nodded. "Instead… which bring us to our next point… Mountain Glenn." He turned to Ruby.

"You said that the infiltrator mentioned something about growing activity in the abandoned city. How exactly did you manage to get that information?"

Ruby bit her lip. "She told me."

"Oh she _told_ you," the headmaster hummed. "Well isn't that a relief, but could it be that, maybe, she lied?"

"She wouldn't do that."

"And how would you know?"

She glared. "Because Cinder wouldn't lie to me."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Cinder? You know this… criminal."

She didn't look away. "I do."

"And I am just to believe that just because you know her, she'd tell you the truth about something like this?"

"Eh, I would." A new voice said.

At once they all turned to the new figure who had appeared from the window, his messy black hair falling into place as he stepped out of the wind.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby brightened.

He grinned, and embraced his niece in a hug. "Hey there pipsqueak, did ya miss me?"

She shot him a pout that had him recoiling. "You haven't called me in months. I was so worried about you when we split up!"

He laughed. "What? Worried about me? I'm the best huntsman there is kiddo, I ain't have to be afraid of anybody. You got here alright then, with Amber?"

"She did." Ozpin said, standing up. "Qrow, you are back sooner than I expected. Is there a reason for that?"

He shrugged. "There was nothing left to do. I gave my hunters the slip and cost them enough time that I thought it would be safe to come back. Looks like it was the right time though," he looked down at his fellow reaper. "You said it was Cinder?"

She nodded.

"He sighed, pulling out his flask and taking a swig. "Damn. That's not something I wanted to here."

"You know of this girl then Qrow?" the general questioned.

He rolled his eyes. "Sure do Jimmy. She travelled with us for about, what, four years? I taught her how to fight myself, she's tough."

Ozpins eyes narrowed. "And you didn't think it important to tell me of this?"

"Not really no," he answered truthfully. "Cinder was someone we picked up from a Grimm Massacre as it was happening in front of her. She was scared and wanted to come with us, and after a little bit of time she got wrapped up in all of our crazy. She helped protect Ruby from quite a few baddies."

"He leaned in close, so that only Ozpin could hear. "The kid was crazy about Ruby, might even have been a healthy dose of obsession since she saved her life. She had a big case of the hero worship last time I saw her." He pulled away and spoke in a louder voice.

"So I don't really think she's the type to go against Ruby. Whatever this is, whatever she wants, I think she's telling the truth, at least about there being something going on in Mountain Glenn, I flew over there on my way here… it's empty Oz, more empty than I'm used to. No animals or birds went near it, only Grimm, and there were a lot more of them than there should be for an abandoned city. Someone's there."

There was a pause, a full minute of silence.

"Miss Rose," he said eventually. "Leave us for a moment, I… will send for you shortly."

She hesitated for a second, sending a look to Penny, then her Uncle before nodding reluctantly.

The elevator opened for her and she stepped in.

She didn't look back as it closed behind her.

As she felt the floor move, Ruby closed her eyes and sighed. What a night this had been. It had been… so nice in the beginning, but now she just felt drained and Cinder…

She sighed. Whatever they were planning up there, it was without her, and that was an uneasy feeling. She trusted Qrow would vouch for Cinder but with everything they were dealing with right now with Amber and the festival she knew they couldn't afford to just let it go.

What was she supposed to do?

The door made a noise as it opened and Ruby walked out.

Only to freeze when she saw her team waiting for her at the bottom. The say her instantly and rushed over.

Weiss was the first one to her.

"Ruby are you alright?" she asked in a worried tone. "We heard that Ozpin wanted to speak to you about the attack."

She faked a smile. "I'm fine Weiss, really."

"Are you sure?" Blake cut in, sending her a concerned look of her own. It was sweet, really it was, she just wished they weren't doing it now of all times."

"I promise I'm-"

"What is this?!" Yang snapped, hand latching onto Ruby's cheek, where Cinder had cut her with an arrow. Her sister's eyes flashed red and she growled. "You _were_ involved."

Ruby grit her teeth.

And just like that, her mood took a dive over the edge.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss swallowed as she stood hunched again the wall outside her room on the left side of the door. Blake stood on the right side, looking as much, if not more uncomfortable than her. Team JNPR's door was open, as the four members of their team peered out, sending them sympathetic – and nervous – looks.

How had it all gone so bad so fast?

Ruby had come out of the tower looking ragged and worse for wear, and Weiss had rightly been concerned about her partner, her sister even more rightly so had been worried, and leapt to interrogate her on what had happened.

Ruby could have answered, it wasn't like it could be that big of a deal.

Instead she'd refused to answer, and Yang had gotten angry. They'd argued, all the way back to their room, and when they got in they argued some more. Weiss had sat on her bed while Blake had sat on hers, trying to look as small as possible as it got progressively worse.

And it did get _worse_

Yang got madder and madder as Ruby refused to answer,. She got angrier because their night had suddenly been interrupted by alarms and Atlesian soldiers and a Ruby with a bloodied cheek.

Yang started yelling.

It was to be expected. Weiss hadn't seen where Yang and Blake had gotten off to, she didn't know what they'd been doing but it had been cut short by the worry over her sister, who wasn't helping the situation with her stubbornness.

Yang was angry and it was expected, she had a temper, and for as much as she tried to keep it in control she was loud with it. it was honestly something Weiss could deal with. A bit of shouting and she'd let off steam and it would be over.

Her sister had always told her those kinds of people were the ones you needn't be afraid of. For as angry as they got they would not harm you, not on purpose.

Winter had always warned her that it was the ones that didn't get angry that she should fear, because when they did it would be something she'd never experienced.

Weiss experienced that with Ruby.

It had been an _eruption_.

When Ruby finally snapped it was with screaming and rage and vitriol unlike Weiss had ever seen from someone, and it coming from a fifteen-year-old girl did not lessen that.

Ruby had screamed and raged as Yang shouted and raged. It got so bad, so loud and scary that Weiss and Blake had fled the room. Now they were sitting outside waiting for it to be over.

That had been ten minutes ago, and they were getting worse.

It reminded Weiss of how her mother and father had argued, except neither had been trained fighters capable of killing someone. These two sisters were, and that scared her.

But the similarities with her own parents was scarier.

The monochrome pair flinched as a shattering sound could be heard and the screaming and shouting got louder. No actual violence yet but things were being broken.

Neither of them was brave enough to go in and stop them.

Weiss wondered how it would end. She couldn't even hear what they were saying. That was perhaps the most frustrating part of it all. For their voices were so loud and raging that their words were indistinguishable from this side of the door. It could be heard alright, but whatever it was they were saying was lost on her.

She groaned into her hands. It had been such a nice night too. She'd been laughing and smiling and dancing with Ruby and her partner had been opening up, enjoying herself and showing Weiss what her real self looked like. The kind, happy, giggling girl.

What scared her the most was that Weiss knew this was honest too.

This furious, screaming Ruby was the honest one too. This was her without a care for what her teammates or anyone else thought of her and it was terrifying, for Weiss to know that _this_ was her teammate. _This_ was her partner. This was-

She cut her own thoughts off with a sigh as she palmed her forehead.

"Are you alright Blake?" she called from her side of the door, not bothering to turn to the Faunus.

Said girl sighed herself. "Managing," she said. "Even with my hearing I can't tell what they're saying. Honestly it's just a little painful."

"Maybe we should move away?" Weiss suggested.

Blake shot her a look.

Yeah, she felt the same way. Even if they wanted to move, there was a feeling in their stomachs that something bad would happen if they did.

It was _still_ going.

Weiss let out a breath in a low growl. "What happened for this to even get this bad?"

Blake shrugged, showing that she'd heard her.

"Build up maybe?" she said. "It's… we both know they've been at odds since the first day."

"Yes but this?!" she hissed. "This is ridiculous. My sister and I would never be like this!"

"Did your sister ever disappear for nearly ten years?" Blake responded reasonably, or maybe not, the fact that 'nearly ten years' was a reason to begin with was bad enough.

She groaned again.

There was a sudden noise and the two of them jumped. Inside there was a beat of silence too.

The speakers rang out.

" _Could team RWBY report to the headmaster's office. Team RWBY to the Headmaster's office."_

Weiss and Blake shared a look. What was this about now?

They jumped when the door suddenly opened and Ruby stormed out. She stopped only for a second to look at them, and if she thought anything about them sitting on the floor she didn't comment as she spoke curtly.

"Get dressed, I'll meet you guys there."

Weiss opened her mouth to say something but cut off as a thump from inside the room could be heard. Their combat outfits were tossed out and into team JNPR's room. Looks like Yang didn't want them in right now.

Ruby huffed and turned away, marching down the corridor angrily.

They shared another look. If anything, at least the screaming had stopped.

Still, it would take another five minutes before they were ready and Yang stepped out of their room. She didn't say anything to them, even if Blake leaned against her as some show of support. Yang didn't shake it off so it must have worked a little.

Again, with a sympathetic look from team JNPR they made their way to the Headmasters office. Ruby hadn't been there waiting for them and the elevator ride was tense for Weiss in particular.

Mercifully t was short and as they entered they saw Ruby standing to attention. Yang sent her a heated glare but looked away a second later, eyes front and centre.

Or, they would have, if they hadn't fallen to the stranger in the room.

Weiss didn't know who he was; dark black hair, dull red eyes and a lax stance it was certainly nobody she'd ever met before, but from the way Yang froze stiff it was someone _she_ knew.

Before she could say anything however Ozpin spoke.

"Thank you for coming." He said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I hope you've all enjoyed your night so far, barring the interruption of the alarms of course. Miss Goodwitch and the general are off to manage the situation with the rest of the teachers."

None of them answered, unsure what to say.

The headmaster took that as an invitation to keep speaking.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why you're here tonight, and I suppose there's no need for formalities so I'll cut to the chase. Earlier tonight, we received intelligence on a potential White Fang operation outside of the city."

Blake tensed beside Yang, suddenly alert. Ozpin caught it in the side of his vision. "I am well aware the four of you have had… experience dealing with the organisation, more than any other group of students. Which is why I have decided to come to you four on the matter."

He turned to them.

"The missions begin tomorrow, a week before the end of the semester, but considering the importance and time sensitivity of this, I have decided that it would be best to start now, tonight, instead of waiting for morning." He stood up, gazing out the window.

"Of course you can decline this mission, there is no shame in that if you feel it too much for you all."

Weiss glanced at her teammates. Obviously with Blake and their own experience they had at least some sort of personal reason to take this mission, but even more than that the Headmaster had spoken to _them_. If he put his trust in them like that, Weiss didn't see a way they could refuse."

He took their silence as an answer and nodded.

"Very good. The information we received put the location somewhere in Mountain Glenn, an area filled with Grimm. This will be a high-level mission, which is why I am sending Qrow her with you, he will be the head of this operation, you are to follow his commands."

The man in question grinned and sent them a little wave.

"Hey there kids. I've heard a lot of things about you four. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you got."

Yang's hands clenched into tight fists.

"With that out of the way," Ozpin said. "Head to the cliff for bullhead transport."

They nodded stiffly, but before they could leave.

"Oh and could Miss Rose stay behind for a moment? I need to have a word with her." The three other members of team RWBY shared a look, Yang didn't look happy, but there wasn't anything to do, no they continued on their way out, and let the elevator doors close behind them.

Now, three people were left in the room.

"Yes sir?" Ruby asked, Qrow getting ready to leave himself.

The headmaster sat back down in his chair.

"While you are on your mission, there is a secondary objective for you and Qrow to complete: You must find and eliminate Dr Merlot."

The Reaper blinked. She'd heard that name before, from Cinder, years ago.

"I thought he was dead." She said.

"We assumed so too, but if his facilities are being used then it could only be with his aid."

She nodded. "Right, I guess we'll-"

"There is another thing," he interrupted. "Merlot is an Avatar. He is Mr Hyde."

She sucked in a breath. "More of them? Why didn't you tell me about this one?!"

"As I said, we assumed him dead. Clearly he was not. Your mission to kill him must be kept secret from the rest of your team of course."

Ruby shot a nervous look at her uncle. He caught it. "Don't worry kiddo, when we find him, I'll do the deed."

"R-right, okay." She looked away. "So should we get going?"

"Indeed." Ozpin nodded. "Good luck on your mission Miss Rose."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake held onto the railings above as the bullhead rose into the sky.

She looked over the edge as they left Beacon behind them and the wind whipped at her hair. So this would be their second official mission. Even if it was a little earlier than she'd expected and the circumstances around it weren't the best she couldn't help the twinge of excitement that bounced around in her.

She took one last look at the city before they left its borders and slide the door shut, blocking out the wind and noise of the propellers.

"So, how long until we get there?" she asked the Huntsman in charge.

Blake wasn't too sure what to make of him.

He was Ruby's and Yang's Uncle, she remembered his name from the few mentions Yang gave her. He wasn't what she expected in all honesty, in that he really didn't look anything like them, maybe the eyes could be compared to Yang's when she got angry but apart from that…

He was tall, as in really tall, and his state of dress didn't leave much to be desired with how untidy he kept himself. He _was_ a huntsman though, Blake could feel it. It wasn't just his weapon – which was a pretty big sword hanging off his waist – but the way he watched them all. It wasn't hostile of suspicious, but it was ready.

"Could be anywhere between ten or thirty minutes," he shrugged as he sat down on one side of the Bullhead. With the five of them in the metal carrier there two sides were filled; Weiss, Yang and her on one side with him and Ruby on the other. Whatever that meant…

"It depends if we get any interference, we want to keep our entrance quiet, no flash. Attracted Grimm while looking for terrorists in a bad idea."

Despite herself, and her mood, Yang smirked, knocking her fists together. "If there's Grimm we can take em. We've taken on a ton already."

The Huntsman didn't look impressed. "At initiation right? If that's your bar for Grimm you're gonna get torn apart in your first fight."

"Huh?" she blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He rolled his eyes. "You were fighting Grimm in the Emerald Forest; they're right next to the school which means their young, stupid and weak. The further you get out from civilisation the stronger they get, and I don't just mean their types. Even regular beowolves are as strong as Alphas out here, and the Alpha's are worse."

"Surely it can't be that bad," Weiss argued. "We know how strong Grimm can be, we fought an Ouroboros."

"Yeah, and how did that go for ya? I'm being honest here Ice Queen, the Grimm in Mountain Glenn are going to be a big deal. They've been there for years, decades getting older and stronger and most have some kind of experience killing people. They'll be smart." He glared at the three of them. "Let me make this clear. You _don't_ engage any Grimm here by yourself, at all."

Yang scowled and looked away, but Blake and Weiss nodded.

The Faunus' hand fell to her weapon.

She'd fought Grimm before Beacon, but in the White Fang that usually meant cleaning up after a raid. Young Grimm close to civilisation. Those things were still dangerous enough to kill ten men by themselves.

If these were more dangerous than that then…

She glanced at her team leader.

Ruby had been quiet since they'd left, and it was almost like she was looking off in a daze. What was more telling thought was that Qrow hadn't seen fit to try and impress the same thing onto her. She already knew.

Their fifteen-year-old leader already knew how dangerous these Grimm would be.

How come that filled her with more dread than confidence?

They must have reached their destination a few minutes later because whoever was piloting the Bullhead opened the side doors and as the wind whipped around Blake she could just make out the shapes of Buildings.

"Alright," the Huntsman said. "We're dropping off right on the outskirts of this place. Keep things quiet and move slowly. Follow my lead and be ready."

They nodded as the aircraft came to a stop to hover a few meters above the ground. The light blinked inside and they leapt out.

Blake landed softly, crouching low as the others did the same. Even Yang, managed to keep the noise to a minimum as they disembarked. There was a whir of engines and the bullhead pulled away.

Qrow nodded in its direction. "It'll come back once we signal it, depending on how long we're here though it could take a while for them to respond, so be ready for that too."

"Gee," Yang groused. "Sounds like everything's about 'being ready' doesn't it?"

His eyes narrowed at her. "That's because it is firecracker, the second you slip up is the second you die out here, take it seriously."

She looked away at that, grumbling something under her breath.

Qrow ignored it, turning to them in full.

"Okay, here's the deal. We're here to find info on the White Fangs operations here. We might even find them at work but with the Grimm here we need to be careful. We don't know much else, so we need to be wary we're not running into a trap." He glanced at Blake.

"Yo, Emo, you can see better than the rest of us in the dark right? You're going to be our eyes fro now." She felt her ears twitch at the name a little, but nodded all the same.

"Good, the first thing we need to do is set up a camp somewhere."

Weiss frowned. "Shouldn't we start our search for the White Fang? We can use the element of surprise now, if we say here longer we could lose it."

"That would work if we were working with regular criminals," he complimented. "But we're not, it's the White Fang, which means Faunus, and at least fifty percent as a low estimate are going to have night vision like Emo here. That puts us at a disadvantage at night if they ambush us." He looked around.

"Not to mention the Grimm tend to blend in at night far better than during the day. No, we need to find a safe place to set up camp and go from there."

Weiss nodded along, seeing his logic, whatever she thought about who he was to herself privately, even she could see that h was a professional huntsman.

Or, well, not _professional_ considering Atlas consisted of far different sorts of Huntsmen like her sister, but perhaps _experienced_ was the right word.

"Alright Emo," he said again. "You're going to be our eyes and ears while we move, think you can stay sharp?"

"I can," she said. "But it's not perfect." She looked up at the sky. Clouds had rolled in and covered the moonlight. It was _really_ dark. "If I'm going to be any use then we need to get somewhere higher with more light."

He hummed. "Makes sense, but we can't go to the very top of these buildings. We dunno how safe these things are to be around without collapsing. If we find something it needs to be somewhere around the middle of the pack in terms of height, and no ceiling. Got it?"

They replied with a chorus of understanding and he nodded again. Without another word he turned and started moving. They followed as quietly as they could.

Qrow led the formation, Ruby on his left and Blake on his right. Weiss and Yang followed behind.

They looked around at the ruins of the city. Even in the light they had it wasn't easy to miss the utter devastation this place had been through.

The place was the definition of a ghost town. The concrete jungle was overgrown, perhaps becoming an actual jungle. Vines, moss and shrubbery covered the ground and buildings, if they could even be called that. There was smashed glass, broken rubble and skeleton frames were buildings should be.

Blake knew the history of Mountain Glenn, or at least the stuff she'd read in textbooks. It was supposed to have been an expansion for citizens, to help the population grow and give people new opportunities.

It had been a disaster, one of the biggest massacres in recent history.

The White Fang had used it as reasoning to distrust the council, and how they couldn't be trusted thanks to this failure.

Now, Blake was in the centre of it, and she couldn't help but agree.

It was a failure.

And it had been a costly one.

No, now wasn't the time to think about that, stay focused!

Blake looked around, scoping out the area as they moved. Her eyes glowed in the minuscule light they had to work with.

Qrow stopped suddenly, and Blake almost tripped as she did the same.

He looked up and pointed to a half-finished skyscraper. "We can hold up in there for a while," he said. "Go on in, find the highest floor with a sturdy structure and light a fire, I'll scope out the surrounding area."

"Right." Ruby whispered, and hurried on ahead. The rest of the team shared a look and followed.

It took about two minutes to make it up, climbing the broken and often patchy stairwell the whole way up. It would be difficult and noisy for land Grimm to approach them at least. They stopped climbing at perhaps the sixtieth floor or so and pulled out supplies they'd brought with them.

After that, it was a simple case of stacking up burnable material they'd prepared and Weiss setting it alight with a small amount of Dust. Qrow arrived as they finished and nodded when he saw the fire.

"Good," he said. "It's late already, so get so sleep and we'll discuss the plan tomorrow morning."

Blake opened her mouth to say something but the Huntsman had already turned away. Was this what missions were supposed to be like? The Huntsman leading them barely taking part?

* * *

…

…

* * *

The Faunus woke up to the sound of scratching.

Not the sound of claws, but fingernails, so even as her eyes fluttered open and she sat up she didn't feel any alarm in what she was doing.

Eyes still sleepy she looked left and right. They... team RWBY was still asleep. Not that she could blame them. The sun was only rising in the distance. Blake didn't have to look at her scroll to know it was still pretty early, and she at least hadn't gotten much sleep last night.

The Faunus may have been a former terrorist, but even she'd slept in places safer than a Grimm infested ruin.

She looked up through the hole in the ceiling. The skies were a bleak grew, and the mild weather just left everything feeling… muted. Was that the right way to put it?

The scratching stopped.

"You're up then?" a gruff voice came. "Good, get the others and we'll get started."

She nodded slowly and crawled over to her partner. The blonde was sprawled out in her bedroll, and she slept with an open mouth.

Bake poked her cheek gently, and even that proved enough for her to stir.

The blonde's eyes fluttered open and met her own. She smiled.

"Hey kitten," she said "What are you doin' up so early?"

"The Huntsman told me to wake you up," Blake shrugged.

A frown grew on Yang's face for a moment as she pushed herself up out of her bedroll.

"Qrow…"

Suddenly Ruby stirred in her own bed. The noise the two of them made had apparently been enough.

Where Yang and Ruby both light sleepers? That didn't seem right.

Silver eyes opened tiredly and met theirs. They ran over them – specifically Yang – for a moment before looking away.

So that was still an issue was it?

It took them a few more minutes to wake Weiss properly.

Apparently sleeping in a dangerous abandoned city wasn't enough to prevent the heiress from getting her full quote of beauty sleep.

After that, they followed Qrow to the edge of the building on their floor, looking over a great deal of the city.

"Alright, so I guess there's' a few things we need to get out of the way first, since everything was kinda hectic last night," he nodded towards them. "The names Qrow Branwen, And I know who all of you are, at least by name, Ozpin gave me a little list. I don't have anything on your capabilities though, so coordination will be up to you."

He gave each of them a one over.

"Also, since we're in enemy territory I'll state this one more time; you follow my lead, do what I say without question and we won't have a problem. If I think you're going to jeopardise this then I'll call the bullhead and you'll be out of here to deal with any crap Oz sticks you with as punishment. Any questions?"

None of them spoke and after a moment he grunted.

"Good, now here's how we're going to do it: Me, Ruby and the Ice queen will scout out the area first, check-up north of the city. Meanwhile you, Firecracker, and Emo stay here and guard the camp."

Blake felt her partner bristle. "Seriously? You want us to say here instead of being out there?"

He regarded her with a bored stare. "That's what I said."

She grit her teeth, but huffed angrily instead of speaking as she turned and walked back to the dead campfire.

Blake glanced at as her partner stalked away and when she turned back, Qrow was already on his way out.

Great, just great.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"So we'll be scouting out the northern part of the city?"

"That's right pipsqueak. It's the biggest part of the city, so I think we should clear it off our list first. That being said I'll be the one to move in first, got it? If I think it's safe enough I'll give you a signal or something."

The huntsman glanced to the side. "You got that Ice Queen?"

The heiress scowled. "I heard it. I still don't see the reason for leaving Yang and Bake behind."

He rolled his eyes. "We need to make sure the camp was safe for when we get back. I thought I explained this already."

"Oh I heard, I just think we could have taken the more practical course of action and gone together. It's a temporary camp isn't it? We don't have anything too valuable there and we could use the extra members if we run into the White Fang."

Qrow let out a breath "Gee Ice Queen, relax a little will ya? Let the professional huntsman take things from here okay?"

She looked away

Ruby looked back at Weiss and frowned a little. Was there something wrong with her? She'd been frosty ever since she woke up this morning, and she didn't even mean that as a joke.

She could understand if her partner was anxious about being in Grimm territory, but it felt as if it was a more personal thing, something either directed towards her or Qrow. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"Alright," the Huntsman said. "let's get started."

With that he set off, leaving the two huntresses-in-training to wait in the open plaza. Weiss sighed and walked over to lean against a wall.

Suddenly a piece of the ruin broke off, and the heiress jumped as it landed n3ext to her.

Her cry made Ruby looked like her uncle's semblance was in effect.

Weiss shot her a glare and grumbled something under her breath. Ruby stopped, realising that laughing at her partner wouldn't be the best idea in her current mood. She cleared her throat.

Uncle Qrow shouldn't be too long," she said. "he'll probably just try and get a view of the place from somewhere up high before coming to get us."

Weiss hummed, but didn't reply.

Ruby coughed.

"And uh… that 's probably what we're going to be doing the whole day. Hopefully we can find some action soon."

"I see."

Ruby bit her lip. "Are you okay Weiss?"

"Yes Ruby, I'm _Fine._ "

Her brow furrowed. "You don't sound fine, what's wrong with you?"

Weiss stopped in her tracks immediately and when she turned Ruby was taken aback by the snarl on her face.

"What's wrong with _me_? That's rich coming from you, I'd think you see the hypocrisy in that and how you're acting but apparently not."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about Ruby," Weiss growled, stepping closer and pushing a finger against the reapers chest. "You're issues with Yang are getting out of hand"

Ruby scowled. "What's the big deal? Can't I have privacy without her interrogating me on everything I do? Is that too much to ask?"

"With you? Yes!"

Ruby gaped, but the heiress didn't care.

"You are well aware that disappearing from your family has an effect on her, you're just too blind to see the extent. Every time she tries to get the truth out of you, something she _deserves_ you push her away and she's left feeling worst about herself. You're secretive, argumentative and to be quiet honest after the debacle that was last night I don't even know if I should trust a word you say?"

"W-what-"

"You came down from the CCT with blood on your face, your own and there were alarms going off just minutes before. Yang, like any good sister was concerned and worried about you and no matter how she chose to show it you should have at least eased her fears. Instead you two _screamed_ at each other. If you can't see a problem in all of that then I question your sanity."

The red-hooded huntress glared, clenching her fists. "You don't understand. You can't know what I've gone through. What, do you want me to tell you things I've kept secret for a very important reason?"

"No!" Weiss snapped. "Regardless of the reasons behind your secrets, which I can't imagine for the life of me could be that bad, you don't need to tell _me_ anything. But you need to tell Yang, your _sister_ deserves to know why she was left alone for years."

"But she wasn't alone!" Ruby argued. "She had dad!"

"Does she feel that way?" Weiss bit back. "I know all too well that sometimes someone's parents can be… inadequate in staving off loneliness, they can sometimes be the cause of it. My sister… she was the only one I could rely on for years. Yang didn't even have that. She deserves to know Ruby, even if she's the only one you tell. And if you still refuse to tell her, if you don't do anything as a leader to _fix_ this team," she sighed. "Then I'll withdraw."

Ruby's eyes widened. "What? You can't!"

"I can and I will!" she glared. "If this is our lives where you two can't interact like people for the next four years then yes, I'll transfer to a different team or… or a different school. I have goals of becoming a huntress and if you prevent that…"

There was a flutter of wings that Weiss didn't hear and a tread of footsteps she did. Qrow was on his way back.

She glanced back in his direction before sighing and sending one last look at Ruby.

"I don't want to," she said in a softer tone. "But I will. _Fix it_ , please, for your own good if nothing else."

The reaper made to say something when her uncle rounded the corner.

"It's clear," he grunted. "We'll check the buildings for any sign of activity but it should be safe. Let's get going."

Weiss turned away and nodded, following Qrow as he started leading him the way he came.

Ruby stood there frozen for a moment. This couldn't be happening! Was… was Weiss really serious? No, of course she was, it wasn't even a question. Ruby gripped her head. She'd been given an ultimatum; tell Yang the truth, about the horrible wold and the things she'd been through, possible shattering… everything, or lose her partner, her best friend. It wouldn't just be that. What would happen to the team if the heiress left? Blake might go with her, the two of them had a join goal now, for the betterment of the SDC and Faunus. They'd go together, and… and Yang might leave too. Where would that leave Ruby?

What was she going to do?

Apparently the world was about to decide that for her, because as she took a step to follow, the ground suddenly cracked. The ground splintered and gave way beneath her feet in an unnatural way.

Ruby only had time to cry out before she fell into the depths.

* * *

….

…

* * *

Blake poked at the ash of the fire from last night with one of the half-charred sticks.

They'd been here for about… an hour, no, two, she'd forgotten to change the clock on her scroll. Blake was bored. More than that, she was nervous. They were in a ruinous city that Vale textbooks only spoke about in cautionary tales. The modern world's biggest mass grave and a failure of the council.

Grimm were said to infest the place and if the headmaster's information was truly right then White Fang too. She might run into Ilia again.

She gripped at the stick hard enough for it to splinter – although it _was_ just a stick – and she sighed. She couldn't freeze up again. Not like she had last time. If it came to facing her here of all places she'd give it her all.

But if Blake was honest, that wasn't what she was nervous about.

Her gaze roamed to her right, where Yang stood near the edge overlooking the streets. Her back was to her, but she knew the blonde definitely wasn't smiling.

There lay a problem all on its own.

Blake scratched the top of her head as it began to itch and palmed her forehead with the other hand.

Last night after the dance had been… it had been a mistake.

She didn't want to think of it as one, but it was the truth. After Blake spouting off about moving too fast and what she'd gone through with… with Adam, she'd almost immediately hopped into bed with her second partner.

 _What was wrong with her?!_

She sighed. This whole thing was an issue she didn't want to deal with right now.

But she needed to talk with her partner about something. It shouldn't be Blake's problems. Right now, even if she was uncertain, Yang was Blake's… girlfriend.

That's what they were now, and it was a part of the job that if something was bothering Yang, both as that and as her partner she should talk to her about it.

Taking another breath Blake got to her feet and strode over to Yang, stopping beside her to overlook the city.

"Are you alright Yang?"

There was no answer.

Blake turned to look at her, Yang didn't look like she'd noticed her yet, and her eyes were red.

"Yang?"

"W- huh?" she blinked, looking around suddenly and noticing her Faunus partner. "Oh, hey Blake, sorry, I was…" She trailed off.

Blake rested her arms behind her back and rocked a little on her heels. "You were what?"

Yang sighed. "it's nothing, really. I was just… seeing things again. My mind playing tricks on me."

"What did you see?"

The blonde looked at her sharply as if surprised, but when Blake didn't back down she shrugged.

"People," she answered matter-of-factly. "I see regular people going about their daily lives as if the place isn't rubble around them. Like, I dunno, ghosts are something."

Blake shivered at the idea. Yang noticed.

"Yeah, like I said, don't worry about it, it's nothing." There was a pause. Actually, there was something bothering Blake about what they'd said to each other last night.

"Hey… Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"After the dance, when we were… in bed together…"

Yang grinned and her cheeks turned a light shade of red. "Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to forget any of that, especially the… wait, this is basically the morning after isn't it? Should we be cuddling?"

Blake ignored the question in favour of her own.

"You told me that it had been your first time when I asked but… I remember the twins talked about… well… that it wasn't."

"Oh, that." Yang mumbled before shrugging one shoulder. "What are you asking?"

Blake gave her a puzzled look. "Well, last night with me couldn't have been your first time could it? Not when you'd already been with them."

"Yeah," the brawler agreed. "But it's not like it meant anything."

Blake just looked even more confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno," Yang said in the same tone of voice, like she was talking about the weather. "It's just like, with the twins it was when I was… in a kinda different place. I was looking for some fun and so were they and after a few drinks one thing led to another. We just, fell in together. It wasn't a personal thing or anything."

She looked at Blake properly now, leaning against the stone pillar to her right and crossing her arms beneath her chest. "I think it was different last night. Or, like, at least it was for me. It was actually something… I dunno, it's not like I have anything to compare it to, and I'm not really good at explaining what I mean."

"I think I get it." Blake nodded slowly. It was a strange and twisted way of looking at it, callous and underneath it all it should some kind of… carelessness, either for what she'd done with them or her own body. She didn't know how that made her feel. "I mean I understand what you're talking about."

"Do you feel the same way?"

The Faunus looked away. Yang noticed.

"Blake?"

She flinched at the sudden shift in Yang tone; worried. Afraid. Scared.

"I… I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "When I was in the White Fang there was someone else I cherished. He was," she swallowed. "He was my partner. His name was Adam. We'd know each other for years. We'd trained together, fought together and got… close. Very close. I looked up to him for his strength and commitment to the cause and I thought I'd– no, I did fall in love with him."

She closed her eyes as the memory played out in her mind.

"Sooner or later, I can't remember exactly when, things got intimate. There was this feeling every time I talked to him, every time we spoke. It was there all the way up until something tipped the scale."

She didn't dare look at the blonde.

"A while ago, you said you trusted me because you didn't believe I could be as bad as some people in the White Fang. You're wrong."

"What do you-"

"When, I… took part in a raid, we hit a Schnee compound. A place dealing with miners and filled with those atlas droids that look like furnaces on legs. You know the ones right? Well, we hit it, and during the Chaos Adam and I made our way into the buildings. We came across people. Office workers who were so, so afraid for their lives and Adam… he told me to kill them."

Yang didn't interrupt, and Blake was thankful as she took a breath to steady herself.

"I was a coward. I could have refused but I… I pulled the trigger. I _killed_ them because I didn't want to stand up to him." She slammed her arm into the wall angrily. "And that's not even the worst part. I _still_ followed him after that. Then we attacked a train and Adam wanted to blow it up and I _didn't stop him!_ I let him and went along with it and more people died."

She sat down, shoulders slumped as her legs hung over the side. "It didn't stop until I heard people were deserting. So, instead of facing him a convinced a friend to smuggle me out, I hid, travelled to the city and joined Beacon just like that. I ran instead of doing something about it." Blake looked down at her hands and clenched them into fists.

"I had something with Adam, something where I didn't question him until it was too late." She looked at Yang with an agonised expression. "It's not the same feeling, not here with you and I don't _know_ if that's good or bad and…" she trailed off.

"I don't know."

"…Well," Yang said after a minute. "That's not really what I was expecting from a ' do you think I'm awesome'. That was heavy."

Blake didn't say anything, closing her eyes to begin her own pathetic self-loathing. She froze when an arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"You know, you don't have to worry about me being like that. About _us_ being like that." She grinned. "I mean, yeah I get angry a bunch but I' never do that to people, not turn into the type of person he sounds like."

Blake didn't meet her eyes.

"Do you promise?"

"Huh?"

"Do you promise?" she asked again, looking at her head on again. "Do you promise not to be like Adam?"

Yang grinned, tapping her shoulder lightly. "Yeah, call it the Yang Xiao-Long guarantee. I _promise_ not to be so bad that I remind you of your terrorist ex-boyfriend."

Blake choked out a laugh at that and glared at her but didn't resist when she was pulled in for a one-armed hug.

"I'm keeping the puns though, if you can't love those I don't know what hope we have."

"Oh for shame," She drawled with a smile. "All of our bright futures together are gone because Yang likes bad jokes."

"Hey!"

Blake laughed, but after a moment she paused.

"Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"You're… not angry about anything are you?"

"Um, no why?"

"Your eyes are still red."

Yang blinked. "They are? Huh, weird. I'm not angry anymore, hang on and gimme a second."

Then just that that her eyes flickered back to a familiar lilac colour.

"Is that better?" she asked, looking at her partner who nodded In return.

"Yes, it's fine now."

"Okay, cool."

There was a pause as the brawler's eyes lingered on her. Blake gave a puzzled smile. "What is it? What's with that look?"

Yang blushed a little. "Sorry, I was just lookin' at your ears. There's like… fur growing out of them."

She blinked, hands rising to her ears. True to her words there was the touch of feline fur bushing against her fingertips it was a wild tuft of hair.

"Huh," she said. "I was wondering when that would happen."

"Is that normal?" her partner asked.

Blake chuckled. "Yes Yang, it's normal for Faunus to grow hair."

"O-oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like-"

"I'm joking Yang." she said as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. She could ignore it if Yang made a few mistakes or said a few things if they were simply out of ignorance rather than malice.

It wasn't like there were any schools or universities studying Faunus' in that effect anyway.

"To be honest though I thought it would take longer for it to grow back… guess I know for next time."

"What, was it your first time cutting it or something? When was that?"

"About a year ago," she answered, still running her hands over it. "When I started venturing into towns while still in the Fang I would wear the bow. That didn't really work great when the fur in my ears would peak through or bulge so I cut it."

"That makes sense." Yang nodded. "But then, why does it look like their… bigger? Your ears themselves I mean."

She smirked. "Because they are. Faunus parts are just like any other part of the body; they grow as we mature, its just that with things like ears they don't stop growing until we hut full adulthood, sometimes still after that."

"So they'll get bigger." Her partner concluded.

She chuckled. "They'll get bigger. My moms are a lot bigger than mine are now, and my dad's a panther Faunus so there's some dominant growth genes there."

"Parents huh?"

Yang trailed off, and Blake saw where the conversation was about to turn to. Hurriedly she changed the subject.

"So what about your hair?"

Yang looked confused, a hand pulling her hair over her shoulder to look at it. she frowned at what she saw and ran her hands through it as if to fix it.

"What about it?" she asked sceptically.

"I… don't know. It looks… nice?"

Yang scoffed." Yeah, sure. I didn't get to brush it because we left so fast last night, and with all the things that wen ton it's a mess right now."

"I wouldn't call it a mess," Blake argued. "It's just… wild. I like it."

The blonde's eyes widened and she looked way red-faced.

"Th-thanks." She stuttered. She didn't try to fix her hair anymore. Suddenly she froze and her eyes widened.

"Ah shit!"

Blake shot up. "What is it? Grimm?"

"No," she groaned, hands gripping her head. "You mentioned your parents and I just realised, I haven't told dad about Ruby."

Blake stared. "Are… you serious?"

"I forgot!" she cried out. "The last time we talked we had an argument, like a really big one. I haven't even called him since I joined up at Beacon. Things have been too crazy for that. He doesn't even know Ruby's come back or that she's okay!"

She groaned louder. "I'm an idiot!"

Blake continued to stare for a moment. "Yang, can I be brutally honest with you?"

"What?"

"Between your dad and you not talking, your mother disappearing, your _second_ mother passing away, your sister disappearing and then _reappearing_ and your uncle suddenly showing up into the mix. Your family is fucked up."

Yang choked, which quickly devolved into a strangled laugh.

"Damn Blake, since when did you start cursing like that?"

She rolled her eyes. "I've done it before, but you're definitely a bad influence."

They shared a laugh, when suddenly there was the sound of something sprinting up the stairwell behind them. They turned, weapons suddenly at the ready when Qrow and Weiss burst in with ragged breath.

Yang noticed the missing member.

"What happened?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby groaned as consciousness came to her, and made her fully aware of the splitting headache she had. Where… was she?

She tried to stand only to realise she couldn't move. Her eyes snapped open to see tow men carrying her by the arms, her feet dragging on the ground. She swallowed. They were wearing White Fang masks. She'd been captured!

Dam Qrow and his bad luck.

They noticed she was awake and growled at her, a dog and deer Faunus glared down with hateful eyes. Their grips tightened and she winced.

"Don't try anything human," the canine snarled. "If you do we'll kill you and feed your body to the grim."

Yikes, that was kinda threatening. The look on her face must have said it all because he grunted. The deer Faunus on her other side seemed to have a problem with it too however.

"Dude, what the hel?"

"What?

"She's a kid? You can't threaten to kill a kid."

"She's a human!" the dog growled.

"She looks younger than my girls." The other frowned. "We're not killing her, we're giving her to the boss."

"You think he won't do exactly that?"

"…"

He scoffed. "That's what I thought. Don't go soft on me Michel, you know just as well as I do that this is the last phase."

"Yeah, and _I'm_ the one piloting the paladins."

"Whatever, let's hurry this up."

Ruby tuned out as they continued, her eyes turning up to the sky.

Or, at least what should have been the sky. Instead all she saw was a stone ceiling above her. She was in a cave. No, not… not exactly. There were buildings here, it was an underground city!

Up ahead, she could see train tracks, and trains being loaded with boxes by dozens, no, hundreds of White Fang members. There were so many, more that there'd been at the docks or and the rally combined. What was going on here? What had Cinder been warning her about?

They stopped at an open door at one of the trains and the deer Faunus knocked it with his knuckles.

"Boss, we've got someone here for you. A girl."

"No…" a familiar voice came back, filled with dread. "Please tell me it's not who I think it is."

"Sir?"

"Is she wearing red?"

The Faunus looked down at her in confusion. "Um… yes?"

The figure of a man in white with a bowler cap and ever-present cigar popped out of the train, seeing her, and turning white.

"You cannot be serious right now Red!"

"Um…" she tried. "Hi?"

His hand slapped against his face and he let out a loud, weary sigh.

"Neo, get the rope. She's back."

He glared back into the train.

"Stop looking so excited!"

* * *

...

 **Here we go, into the big leagues, things are about to kick off and the girls are right in the middle of it. get ready for some action, some Grimm and some death!**

 **I hope you're excited for it as I am, but right now I want to keep it tight-lipped so I don't spoil anything. So I'll just leave you with the reminder to follow, favourite and review if you want to see more.**

 **I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (Slash) WSpectre**


	24. Death under the mountain: Part 2

"What the hel do you mean you lost Ruby?!" Yang snarled, her eyes blazing red as they bore into Qrow.

Yang's shoulders were squared as the Huntsman stared back.

"I mean exactly what I said," he growled. "I turned my back for a minute and she was gone. We think she fell into the caverns but we need your Faunus' partners eyes to see down there."

"You couldn't have just called us?" she shot back. "You could have gone in and try to find her while we got there."

"There's no signal." He said. "I tried to send a message to Beacon and you but there's nothing. Something's jamming my scroll. Stop arguing with me Yang, we need to find Ruby and-"

"We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you hadn't-"

" _Enough!"_ Weiss suddenly snapped, stopping her way between them with an icy glare.

"The two of you can have your little family tantrum after we find my partner. Stop acting like children and come on already!"

Yang girts her teeth but nodded begrudgingly. She could yell and _both_ of them later. What had Ruby even been doing to get separated in the first place?

"We'll probably encounter White Fang," Weiss went on. "If the caverns are open then that's the likely place for them to be. Blake, do you think your vision will be applicable?"

"Yes," the Faunus nodded. "If any Faunus is going to be able to see down there it'll be me, probably better than some of the others too. But we don't know how many are down there."

"Then we take it slow." The Huntsman said. "A stealth-like approach. In and out as fast and as carefully we can."

"We can't take it _slow!_ " the brawler growled. "the White Fang know us, at least some of the do. Who knows what they might do to Ruby the longer we take."

"And if we rush in and get spotted then they might do it anyway." Qrow countered. He glared at the blonde. "What did tell you? We do this my way or not at all. Got it?"

Yang had a few choice words for that, but she knew now wasn't the time.

"Fine," she spat. "But lets at least get there fast before she gets too far away."

Surprisingly Weiss and Blake nodded in agreement, echoing their confirmation to her as her uncle turned. He'd lead them to the last spot they'd seen sign of her and go from there.

Yang clenched her eyes shut and balled her hand into a fist. Whatever was happening between them, all the crap could wait until her sister was back with them safely. She could hold back on being mad until then.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Roman didn't look happy to see her. As in honestly, looked as if he wished Ruby was anywhere but here in front of him at the moment.

It was of course the familiar setting of having her seated in a chair opposite him as he paced back and forth. This time he'd gone without the restraints, probably decent enough to realise that tying her up in a Grimm infested hovel while also surrounded by Faunus extremists and fanatics wasn't the best idea.

Instead Neo had her arms happily wrapped around her neck. Not in an uncomfortable way, it was almost like a hug, and the way the multi-coloured-haired girl grinned widely showed she _was_ happy in some respect.

But Ruby knew that at a moment's notice the hug could become an easy way for Neo to snap necks, and although she was _ninety-nine_ percent sure Neo wouldn't kill her, it _was_ Neo, so anything went really.

Roman sighed loudly. "You know Red, this little thing you have where you appear at the worst possible time is going to get old real quick. No, fact I think it already did, the _first_ time we met! I mean seriously, what are you even doing here?! How did you know I was here?"

He glowered at her. "Are you some kind of curse? Did I doing something in this life to warrant you showing up to mess with me continuously?"

Ruby knew it was a rhetorical question, but she couldn't help herself.

"Maybe?" she shrugged. "I mean, you _are_ one of the most wanted criminals in Vale, I'm pretty sure that counts for something."

She felt Neo vibrate against her back in what she assumed was mirth, and flinched lightly when the thief tapped his cane on her nose.

"Watch the sass Red, I'll have you know I'm _the_ most wanted criminal in Vale. I earned the title, use it will ya?"

He sighed again and pulled over a wooden box. She could see it was loaded with dust, but at the moment it was just something for Roman to sit down on.

"I'm just so done with all of this. I've been here for less than a week and these animals are driving me crazy. I swear if my boss wasn't terrifying I'd toss them all over the edge of a cliff."

Ruby frowned. Yeah, his boss… she a knew who that was now… this was about to get interesting.

"So how did you even get here?" Roman asked suddenly. We didn't give anything away at the last recruitment rally that you and your friends oh so kindly interrupted." He leaned in. "By the way, that blonde is _scary_. I mean, who the hel can punch an armoured paladin to death?"

"My sister apparently."

His eyes widened. "Oh yeah, you two are related." He slumped. "Between the two of you, I wonder what your genes can do."

He shook his head. "But anyway, back to the interrogation – yes Neo this is an interrogation, stop giving me that look! – how did you find out about this place Red? I need to know who's lips I need to sow shut."

Ruby stared at him. Could she use this as an opportunity? On one hand, if she was wrong and Cinder wasn't his boss then she'd lose nothing, Cinder might become unknown to him but it was _Cinder_. Ruby knew she could take the thief if it came to that.

On the other hand, if it _was_ Cinder. She might be able to get some info out of him. Maybe not much, but it was more than she had right now, and she needed to know why Cinder was involved in this. If she as working for Salem she needed to know why she'd accepted it.

And why Ruby hadn't been hunted down instantly afterwards.

"I was told," she started. "it was… let slip but someone just a little while ago."

Torchwick raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that isn't vague at all. Come on Red, don't you know the whole give and take scenarios involved with this sorta stuff? Don't they teach you about that sorta thing in Beacon?"

Ruby had the cheek to roll her eyes.

"It's not like the Grimm do much interrogation." They did of course. If you were important enough Salem would have her Grimm poke around in your head, or worse. She'd seen it herself.

"Eh," he admitted. "You have a point there. But still, even movies do a good job is showing that you don't stay silent or give the interrogator round about answers. You keep them happy and give them little bits of info at a time."

"Yeah, but those kind of interrogators get physical. I knew you're not going to hurt me."

He grinned. "Maybe, but Neo can get physical in other ways if you remember properly."

Ruby's eyes widened right as the shorted girl plopped down on her lap. On arm slung around her neck and body pressed against her.

She fluttered her eyelashes delicately, but it was the shit-eating grin that did it.

"No please!" Ruby squeaked, feeling the heat shoot to her face. "Anything but that!"

Roman rolled his eyes and Neo snickered. "Teenagers," he grumbled. "You're all just balls of hormones. I swear."

The Reaper glowered at him, or tried to and failed, because the evil criminal on her lap was letting her hands wander. A noise escaped her throat.

"Alright," he smirked, clasping his hands together. "We'll get right down to it. who told you about this place?"

"…"

Well, she _was_ planning on finding out what they knew anyway. it would be pointless to try and keep it a secret.

"Cinder."

He nodded. "Right, and what did-"

He froze. "W-what?"

Neo's movements had stopped to as she leaned back to stare wide eyes at the younger girl.

"Did… I hear you right?"

"You did," she said, looking smugly at the thief if only to see his reaction. "Your boss told me. That's who she is right?"

He laughed nervously. "There can be more than one person with a name Red, I'm sure-"

"Dark hair, golden eyes and can use fire? I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same person."

Roman swallowed nervously. "And… how exactly do you know her name?"

"We know each other. We're childhood friends I guess. She was my best friend actually before we separated."

Roman looked very, _very_ pale.

"Oh." He whispered. "Oh dear god." He seemed to realise something, what it was she wasn't sure.

"You… were friends with the fire woman?"

"Yeah. I've known her since I was ten. I saved her life and she saved mine. A lot actually now that I think about it."

"That's nice." He mumbled, mostly to himself. He looked pretty out of it now that she looked at him properly.

"Are… you okay?"

"Yeah… I just realised I'm in a room with the friend of one of the scariest and insane people on remnant"

Ruby frowned. "Cinder's not insane, she's not scary either."

"Seriously?" Roman baulked. "She's a manipulative pyromaniac with the goal of taking over the city!"

"Come on," The Reaper blinked, but after a second smiled. "She can't be that bad. What has she done wrong?"

The master thief looked at the huntress in training as if she were crazy herself.

"She's threatened to set me on fire multiple times, not to mention she's allied herself with the White Fang. Do you think _I'd_ willingly work with these people?"

"Okay that sounds bad," Ruby agreed. "and I can't really say what's going through her mind in regards to the terrorist part, actually, I can, but the threating to set you on fire thing is just a threat. She said the same thing to my uncle all the time."

That just seemed to make Roman worry even more. "Oh I'm so screwed. If she's chummy with you I don't know what's going to happen when she finds out about this. Why would she even tell you about this? It's not a good idea to warn people before you take them over."

"Well she- Wait, you said it again."

Roman blinked. "Huh? Said what?"

"Taking over. I thought you just said something wrong but you said it again. You think she wants to take over Vale?"

The man shot her a look. "Well obviously, what else is she going to do?"

"Roman, she works for the Grimm now."

He stopped. There was a pause, and Ruby saw Neo make an act of cleaning out her ears.

"She has a way of controlling them sure, but come on, that's only-"

"Her boss," Ruby cut in. "I told you this went bigger than that the last time we talked didn't I? I spoke with Cinder last night, I didn't want to believe it but it's true. She works for the Salem."

"Salem?"

"The Queen of Grimm."

Roman laughed loudly, his shoulders shaking with mirth… until he saw that Red wasn't laughing. She wasn't smiling. She looked completely serious.

"Come on Red that's gotta be a joke. A Queen of Grimm? That's not possible."

"Salem has existed for thousands of years," Ruby said, her voice had gone flat, her eyes steely as they bore into Roman and he froze and knew she wasn't trying to lie to him from that look alone. "She has control over the Grimm and has been trying to wipe out humanity since it appeared. It's been… six, seven thousand years maybe? At least according to what Ozpin says."

Roman swallowed. "Ozpin?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow, and the thief was amazed at how different she looked now, not a child, something else.

"You don't really sound surprised."

He pulled his cap off his head, pressing it against his chest as he shook.

"I knew he was involved in stuff, I thought it was some kind of conspiracy crap though. Maybe he had some kind of underground crime ring going on that I didn't know about, or dealings with other kingdoms like that. Not _this._ "

He leaned back as his hands rose to his face and let out a rattling sigh.

"You know Red, every time we talk it's like you're shattering my worldview. Why can't you just let me go back to being a thief who robbed regular people?"

"Because you're good at it," she answered reasonably. "You're so good at it you caught the attention of dangerous people. This is bigger than vale Roman. It's bigger than the White Fang who are just being used as fodder. If Salem gets what she wants then they'll be dead in the end too. I don't know what Sienna Kan things she's doing siding with the Grimm, but it'll be bad."

There was a pause as Roman bit his tongue. This was too big for him. It was _too big for him!_ Grimm leaders, destruction of Vale and some kind of thousand-year war? What kind of craziness was this? And here he was, being dragged into it. If it wasn't for Red he'd never even know until it was too late. The kid was saying that Cinder wouldn't kill him. Maybe she was right, but that other guy would. Watts. He'd seen it in his eyes the first time they'd met.

He would kill Roman and Neo as soon as they weren't needed anymore.

And he knew Cinder wouldn't be the type to stick her neck out for _them_ any time soon.

Well screw that! He wasn't going to just roll over like that. He'd go kicking and screaming if he had to. He glanced at the girl in front of him, who was looking at him expectantly. She knew about all this. She was involved in some ancient war again a Grimm Queen that nobody else knew about.

Damn… he needed a plan, a new one if she was going to get out of all this… but for now, he might help her along in a few things.

"Sienna Khan doesn't know," he said after a moment. Ruby blinked, Neo looked surprised too, but he pressed on before either could stop him. "She knows there's some kind of dealings going on, but her reports just consist of so-called freedom fighters helping the White Fang get their voices heard by the people of Vale. Those Freedom fighters are us if it's not clear."

"Then… who's leading the White Fang in Vale?"

"Someone a whole lot crazier than her." He chuckled, but there was no humour in it. "Some guy called Adam Taurus. He leads the White Fang here in Vale and I'll tell you, the's a lot more fanatical in what he wasn't to do with the White Fang. I'm talking extermination level of fanatical/ anyone that's not Faunus he wasn't dead, he's only working with Cinder because she has the Grimm with her. He was impressed by the things not attacking when she said so."

He huffed, reaching into his front pocket and pulling out a cigar. He lit it and let it calm him down.

"He's in this deeper than me anyway, I think he at least knows about Cinder having an employer, if what you're saying is true anyway. He's all for whatever the plan is, and if you're saying it's to destroy Vale then that makes a lot more sense. I doubt his boss knows what's about to happen, she probably won't find out until it's too late. I don't think it'll matter though I'm a great judge of character I think. A guy like that's not going to be satisfied with just one city."

Why are you telling me this?" Ruby asked suddenly, confusion written plainly on her face.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Because despite what the council would have people believe I'm not a monster. I mess things up for them all the time, but that's a personal thing. I'm a thief and a troublemaker, not a mass murdering psychopath. Killing everybody in a city isn't the best thing for business. What about you Neo?"

The ice cream girl frowned, making a few motions with her hands. Roman nodded.

"Yeah, she likes killing a lot more than me, but she's more interested in messing with idiots and killing people who can fight back. Slaughtering thousands of civilians not her thing."

Ruby bit her lip. "So… what happens now?"

He sighed again. How many times was that now? It was as if all this crap was ageing him or something.

"Now we wait I'm not stupid to think you came here yourself. Your little teams probably here in the city, and a huntsman shadowing you if I had to guess. They'll be here eventually. Neo and I will make some drama about trying to stop them and you can escape then or whatever. You can stop the White Fang's little operation here while you're at it."

Ruby smiled suddenly, beaming brightly at them. Roman tried to scowl, but the corner of his mouth twitched up despite himself. "Now don't give me that look. I don't need you getting mushy with me. I'm doing this to save my own skin."

The red reaper hummed.

"Neo, get her to top that."

Neo pressed her-

"I'm sorry I'll stop!"

The criminals rolled their eyes. Teenagers and their hormones. The kid was going weak every time something remotely intimate happened. Weren't kids her age supposed to be all over each other?

"Actually," she said after a moment of calming down. "There is one more thing; why is the White fang here anyway? What are the trains for?"

"Nothing now," he said. They planned in stocking the trains full of dust and crashing it right underneath the plaza in the city and letting the Grimm in. it didn't like it but you know… not much I could say to stop it. Doesn't matter anyway. It wasn't supposed to happen for weeks and the whole operations about to be a bust when your team gets here."

As if on cue the sound of bullets rang out.

Roman rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, what is it with your team and dramatic timing?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier_

Weiss felt herself sweat as she followed behind Blake and the Huntsman, keeping as low as she possibly could. Yang was next to her, looking like she might explode at any moment. She hoped she wouldn't. they were right in the middle of it now. They were using one of the crumbled buildings as cover, which was a surprise onto itself. There was an entire city right under their noses and they hadn't even noticed. It was the perfect place for criminals to hide.

"So what do you see Emo?" Qrow whispered to the Faunus. She narrowed her eyes but didn't make comment on it in a place like this. "There's more light in some places than others." Weiss strained to hear as she whispered a reply.

"They're up ahead. I can't tell how many there are but their loading… something into the trains. I can't see Ruby anywhere but some of them look unhappy. That might be because of her but it might be because of where they are."

A dark cave in an abandoned city would dampen anyone's mood.

He nodded. "Right, anything we can look for specifically?"

Blake bit her lip. "I…. don't know there are patches of light in places, but most Faunus don't need that. I mean, some don't have night vision like you said but I would have thought they'd only bring Faunus who could see in the dark to a place like this…no, it must before something else."

Qrow frowned. "What else could it be for?"

"A human?" Weiss suggested. "They… Torchwick could be here. He was accompanying the White Fag nth last two times we ran into him."

"But why would he be here of all places?" Yang growled. "We're missing something. There's something bigger going on here and we don't have a clue."

Weiss saw the Huntsman twitch slightly, but she chose not to say anything. He knew something they didn't, but bringing it up now would only risk getting them caught

"We need a plan," the man said after a minute. "We need to find out exactly what's going on with those trains. If that Torchwick guy is here then Ruby might be there too. We need to sneak past these guys and get there quietly."

"That's going to be hard." Blake winced.

"You're right," a new voice whispered. "Especially since they already know you're here."

They stiffened, hands flying to their weapons but the tell-tale click of something told them something was already being aimed at them.

There was a noise and before their eyes a girl appeared, her skin changing from pitch black to a more familiar colour.

Blake sucked in a breath.

"Ilia."

"Blake."

There was a whisper of steel as another terrorist appeared; the spider Faunus from the docks.

The huntresses-in-training shared a look. Things were about to get loud, and there was only one thing they could do if it did.

"Yang!" Weiss hissed, making the blonde straighten. "Go with your uncle and find Ruby, take down anyone in your way, we'll deal with these two!"

There was no time for confirmation. As soon as the words left her mouth Weiss .lunged as the Faunus, Blake mimicking her exactly.

Qrow and Yang sped off, bursting out of cover as Trifa screamed a warning. White Fang grunts were promptly alerted by the commotion as the brawler sent a fist into one of their faces and a shot rang out.

Then more, the gunfire doing everything possible to light the caverns up as noise nearly deafened the heiress. Her rapier scrapped along the side of the chameleons Faunus' whip.

She gripped Myrtenaster tightly and pushed back, summoning her glyphs underfoot to make the Faunus stumble. She got a second respite to shoot a look at Blake. The cat Faunus was already combating the spider, Blake's dual sword and cleaver fighting off both dagger and webbing as they slashed and lunged dangerously.

Weiss barely got her rapier up in time to deflect the electrical whip as it snapped at her again.

"Damn you Schnee," Ilia hissed out. "You just had to get in the way didn't you, you humans never learn."

She ignored her in favour of stabbing with Myrtenaster., a series of precision strikes that gave her room to think. Realistically Weiss wasn't sure if her victory was a likely thing. The Chameleon was at least as good as Blake and the heiress knew how strong her friend was from experience.

She needed to think of something, or figure out the enemies weakness.

She summoned her glyphs, the surface of the ground becoming smoother for her, easier to move on while becoming more difficult for Ilia. She lunged forward, the tip of her sword scraping against the terrorist aura. Maybe she could whittle her down?

She flipped over a swipe and struck down with her heel, smashing atop her head.

Ilia stumbled and growled, before attacking again, lashing out with her empty hand. It knocked against Wiess' wrist and the Faunus took the chance to send her knee into Weiss' side. It hurt, and the heiress gave an unladylike grunt as she pushed through it. She knocked the pommel of Myrtenaster against Ilia's elbow, causing her to wince and disengage less she lose her own weapon. She still managed to backhand Weiss across the face as she did so however, causing the heiress to miss her opportunity to follow.

"Damn you," she said again. "I thought Schnee's were supposed to fight with honour? Isn't that one of their only good properties, no, you're just like every other filthy human."

Weiss' lips peeled back into a snarl.

"If you're going to insult me perhaps try something less overused," she snapped as she readied herself to fight more. Her glyphs appeared behind her, she needed _something_! "Calling me a human isn't an insult, it's a face, and the only one who's going to be filthy is you, when I grind you into the dirt."

Ilia roared.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang smashed her fist into the face of another White Fang grunt stupid enough to get in her way. There were dozens of them around her, even more, but they were crowded together, so much so that they couldn't fire at her without hitting each other, it was probably the only thing helping her right now.

Apart from her uncle of course, who was battling through his own share of grunts at a much faster rate than her, he was more careful though, eyes constantly flickering as he looked for things Yang wasn't in the mind to see.

The train was just a few feet away.

She kicked out and rammed an elbow into the terrorists both in front and behind her, knocking them to the ground. She fired off a shot, hitting another and spinning her around to bludgeon Ember Celica on others face, sending him barreling into a group of three others. She leapt over another and smashed her boot down on her face before whirling in the air, firing off two more rounds that hit as she landed on another.

One had a sword and charged at her, she barely paid attention, catching it in her hand and pushing aura into her palm to stop it breaching even a layer of skin. She fingers clamped around it and the metal snapped. She backhanded him again and planted her boot in another stomach.

She sent out a jab at one, a kick at another. A right elbow to the Faunus jumped at her and left hook to the idiot who tried to grab her.

Another, another, another. She barrelled through them like the worthless obstacles they were as Qrow did the same. He was ahead of her, but not by much. These guys not doing much to slow either of them down. A small part of her mind questioned why this was so easy.

She'd gotten stronger since last time, but not _that_ much. No, something was wrong. These guys were weaker. But why? Wouldn't it make sense to send tough guys on a mission like this? What were they even planning?

They broke through the crowd suddenly, but Yang was rooted to the spot at the sight before her.

Roman grinned smugly at them as both Huntsman and Huntress came to a stop. Qrow swore.

"He blondie," he waved. "Who's our friend? A bit old for you don't you think?"

She didn't answer him, he was goading her. Her eyes were focused almost entirely on the person beside him. That girl from the warehouse, Neo. She was grinning ear-to-ear, like she was enjoying the chaos all around them

And how she had her deadly blade against her sisters that.

Her hair lit up as she growled menacingly and took a step forward.

Torchwick tapped his cane on the ground and wagged a finger at her.

"Ah, ah, ah!" he laughed. "We can't have you getting too excited over this, why don't you stay right there?"

She growled louder, but stopped when a third figure moved to stand beside the thief.

Roman's smile dimmed a little as a man nearly twice his size stood next to him. Even with the white mask he looked familiar. Had she seen him somewhere before? She thought she might recognise the massive chainsaw he wielded for a sword.

He chuckled darkly.

"Looks like I'm going to get to kill a few humans early. This is going to be _fun_."

"I'd like to see you try!" she snarled.

Torchwick held up his hands and stood between them he suddenly looked a lot less amused.

"Now, now, let's not get hasty. How about we make a deal blondie? You and the old man can have little Red back free of harm, easy."

Her eyes narrowed, and beside her she heard Qrow tighten his grip on his sword. He was just as suspicious as her then. Good.

The thief went on. "And in exchange you let us walk out of here peacefully, we won't trouble you and you won't trouble us. Ain't that a great idea?"

It… was. Yang didn't drop her fist, but they did lower a fraction.

She didn't trust the bastard, but if he was getting away then she at least knew he wanted her to take the deal. Her eyes sought out Ruby's.

The younger girl didn't look afraid in the slightest. She eyed the biggest member warily, who had his head tilted to the side silently. The Faunus was thinking of something.

"It's fine," Ruby said. "We don't need to turn this into a fight if we don't have to. I think the deal fair."

The way she said it made it sound like she _wasn't_ the bargaining chip, but it made Yang relax her shoulders just a little bit more.

Whatever Qrow heard made him nod. "We'll take that deal if you don't mind."

Romans' shoulders sagged, and if Yang's eyes weren't playing tricks on her Neo looked relieved too.

No, her eyes were playing a trick on her, there were the ghosts and shadows on the edge of her vision now. She needed her pills.

"Okay, great, now let's just let Red g-"

"What do you think you're doing?" the Faunus growled menacingly.

The thief shot him a glare. "What does it matter to you? Just keep quiet and let the humans do the talking."

His head tilted the other way.

Very.

Very.

Slowly.

Yang felt the tension rack up behind them, and she couldn't even hear the sound of White Fang grunts anymore.

This conversation was taking too long. It had been less than a minute, but in a few more the grunts would have the sense to attack again.

"You want to cower away." The big man accused, his weapon revving loudly.

"I want out of this Grimm filled pit," Roman shot back. "If you want to get yourself killed by these two be my guest. You won't last long against a Huntsman and Huntress."

His head tilted again.

Slower.

"Maybe…"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss nearly fell as she scrambled out of the way from another lightning dust infused stab from the Chameleon.

It had turned bad so suddenly. She had the upper hand, but the Faunus around them had stopped firing, and the light they'd been producing had died down. Her vision had gotten worse, and Ilia had taken advantage by darkening her skin to match it.

Weiss barely had the reflexes capable to dodge the blows coming from seemingly every direction.

She couldn't use her dust either. Blake was too close, still fighting Trifa and winning, but not fast enough.

Weiss was _losing_.

Her teeth ground together as she fought off another attack.

Since when had she been the weakest? Since when had she relied on her friends to save her so much?

The answer came quickly.

Back when Blake had dived in front of her to shield her from bullets. She'd gotten hurt from that.

She wasn't going to let that happen again, not _again!_

Weiss summoned her glyphs again, larger, stronger this time and sped forward. Meeting Ilia's strike as it came down.

She kicked out, knocked the Faunus down to one knee and slamming her elbow into the side of her face. She winced as she felt a fist hit her in the side and fell back as another hit her in the chest. She stabbed forwards though right as Ilia got up again and felt Myrtenaster carve out another chunk of Aura.

The same happened to her as the lightning whip slashed at her.

Her eyes closed instinctually as she took the pain, and it was all the Fauns needed as the whip wrapped around her neck.

She cried out as it shocked her again she fell to her knees.

Blake called out her name but she was too busy trying not to fall over in pain to notice.

Her rapier was kicked out of her hand and a boot planted on her chest, her back hitting the ground. She glared up through the burning sensation in her eyes. She wasn't going to lose, not to this one. Ilia glared back down, and raised a foot to snap her neck.

Weiss roared, pushing out with everything should could, forcing it into a single glyph that appeared between them. Ilia stuck it instead and stumbled at the unexpected solid surface. The white symbol gleamed brightly and Weiss pushed again. A barrier wasn't enough, she needed to get her away, get this whip off her knew.

She needed a weapon.

 _A weapon!_

As if answering her prayers she felt something solid in her hand and she stabbed it forward. Ila fell back to above having her throat sliced open.

Weiss scrambled to her feet abut froze as she saw it:

It was… a sword. It wasn't Myrtenaster. It wasn't a rapier. It was thin, double-edged and slightly longer. It was a longsword, no, it was a straight sword.

And it glowed bright blue.

What? How? How had she summoned a blade out of nowhere?

She didn't revive an answer, instead she saw the whip lashed out at her again. She raised the blade, and the lighting infused weapon bounced off it like it was nothing. Ilia gasped, an outward sign of Weiss' own surprise.

She didn't have time to marvel though. She rolled to the side, picking up her rapier and holding it in her right hand. She didn't know how to use her new blade, let alone dual wield, but she did know that she had the upper hand, especially because Blake had finished her fight, and stood beside her.

Ilia's eyes turned red for a moment as she looked between them before suddenly;

"Blake," she appealed. "You still have a chance to make things right! Kill the Schnee and you can be forgiven."

Weiss didn't even have the chance to gape before Blake hissed. "Not a chance."

"Why!" Ilia cried, throwing her arms out, she was wide open but…

"Why side with her? With humans? After all they've done to us how can you side with the worst of them over us?"

"I'm siding with my friend over you," Blake corrected, and Ilia stepped back as if she'd been slapped. "You can spout off whatever you want Ilia, but unless you plan on surrendering, don't bother. I won't listen to whatever lies the White Fang has filled your head with."

Ilia snarled and prepared to die at them.

The ceiling above them shook.

…

… Yang leapt back as the oversized chainsword swung at her.

It had been a nearly instant thing, the Faunus had moved past Roman and attacked them with a snarl.

Torchwick looked just as surprised by it as them, but he was already moving, backing up as Ruby somehow escaped the other woman's grip.

Qrow met the big guy head on, sparks flew as it grated against his blade and he pushed back.

Yang grunted as a fist slammed into her back and she spun around.

Her shin shattered a grunts mask and probably his face as he fell.

She raised her fists in preparation. The grunts had gotten their courage back by the looks of it; fanning out in a crescent before her.

Her eyes flashed red. These idiots wanted to try at her again? She'd make them regret it!

But right now she had someone else to deal with:

Neo was still there, standing beside the thief with a grin on her face. Yang felt her body heat up at the sight of her. She'd had a blade to her sister's throat.

She was her target.

Yang let off a shotgun blast from both gauntlets and propelled herself forward, barrelling through more of the White Fang that got in her way and bringing her fist down like a hammer on the multicoloured criminal.

Ruby called out a warning.

Why would she call out a warning when she was about to hit the bad guys?

She didn't have any more time to question it, as her fist stuck the girls head with all of the force she could muster.

Neo shattered into a million pieces instantly, and Yang shut her eyes for a split second as glass shat up in front of her eyes.

She didn't even have time to register movement before foot slammed into her face, making her grunt. Neo backed away slowly with a massive smile plastered on her face still. She held ut a hand and made a 'come at me' motion.

Yang obliged, launching out with a right, missing and jabbing twice with her left. The first one missed but the second one landed, although not the way she was hoping it to. Neo held up her parasol and knocked her fist away before countering with the tool, the handle knocking against her wrist painfully as she kicked Yang's ankle with her heel.

The brawler let out a yelp and took a step back, losing ground that the other fighter exploited mercilessly, using her longer reach to slam her weapon into Yang's stomach.

She dodged to the right, then to the left and ducked under Yang's punches. It was happening again!

Just like at the warehouse this girl was playing with her like she was nothing!

Yang fired off a shot and gasped when Neo's parasol opened and blocked it. the girl eyes her smugly.

She took a step forward and two steps back when yang tried to move in, before doing a god damn _backflip_ and kicking Yang in the chin with her foot as she did so.

How was she even doing that?! Yang would kill to be able to move in such a way, her body was in no way conditioned to bend and flip like her opponents.

Yang breathed heavily, not just to calm herself down but because her aura was starting to tank. She was tiring herself out trying to hit her and it just wasn't working.

Again, Neo taunted her with a gesture but she didn't take it this time. She needed to be careful, she couldn't go on the offensive as she was. She had no way of hitting her. She needed to slow the woman down.

Neo didn't wait for her to think up a plan, lunging with her parasol as the hidden blade sprung out the top.

Yang grit her teeth and braced herself. This was going to suck either way;

She held out her right arms straight and shifted her body to the side, letting the blade graze her and having her aura take the hit.

She reached out with the same hand and twisted her wrist, latching onto the weapon.

Neo's eyes widened oh-so-satisfyingly as she realised what had happened and tried to pull back to no effect.

Yang reached up with her left hand and gripped tighter, _wrenching_ it from Neo's grip.

The criminal stumbled and Yang barreled into her with her shoulder. They both fell to the ground and rolled.

The came to a stop with Yang on top. It was a pure brawl now, her element as she rained down on the smaller fighter, who now desperately attempted to block as many hits as she could.

Yang grinned savagely as her punches landed again and again. She was _winning_.

Neo snarled silently and bent back, bucking her hips. Yang ignored it, relentless in her attack. Just a few more and she should be able to shatter this girl aura!

Neo bucked again and again. Yang was heavier though, more muscled than the lithe form of the multi-coloured mute.

Neo kicked out and up, her body suddenly bending in a way that would have Yang screaming and wrapped her legs around the huntresses neck.

She choked, gasping for breath.

Damn it, she wasn't going to get shaken off. Her hands reached out, wrapping around _Neo's_ neck and squeezing.

The mutes eyes widened and reddened, it as a contest of strength and endurance now, whoever could snap the other persons ne-

Yang gasped, but for a different reason as Roman' body was sent flying at the two of them, knocking her off and Neo away.

The blonde looked up to see Ruby holding her scythe before her.

"Sorry." She said, not sounding it in the least.

Yang blinked, looking around suddenly. He eyes fell onto Neo, who was gasping and hacking as she struggled for breath.

Roman had struggled to his feet and was kneeling over her protectively.

Had she…

Had she nearly lost it and killed her?

The question was left unanswered as the White Fang bastard who had started it was fired into the side of the train, leaving a dent as she sagged.

Qrow didn't look as worn out as she felt and still had his weapon at the ready.

"I told you, you couldn't beat them!" Roman spat. "You fucking idiot."

The man made a noise that might have been a groan if I wasn't so deep.

"Maybe," he said again. "Or maybe I was stalling for something."

"What?"

"You're a coward Torchwick," the Fauns went on, struggling to his feet as the huntsman regarded him cautiously. "You don't have a cause. You're not willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for your goals. But we are. And right now, we have the perfect opportunity to get rid of five people who've been a thorn in Adams side since they arrived."

Yang's eyes widened in horror as he reached behind him and pulled out a trigger. Her mind connected the dots in an instant as Ruby called out a warning to Qrow.

"There're bombs on the train!"

But it was too late.

It barely took a second, but it was long enough for Yang to stumbled back as the button was pressed.

And the trains exploded around her.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby's heart was beating frantically as her vision was engulfed in fire. She'd barely managed to clear the area with her uncle and sister, but all around them more trains were blowing up. Each and every one of them had bombs in them, all of the dozens and dozens on the tracks.

"Neo!" Roman cried over the noise. "Get us out of here now!"

The mute nodded and grabbed her partner. Ruby's eyes met theirs and some kind of message passed between the three of them.

She wasn't sure what it was, only that it was along the lines of; don't die.

Right now, she didn't think she could make any promises.

They disappeared a second later and around them the White Fang screamed.

The ceiling above them was opening up as Ruby's eyes widened.

There weren't just bombs in the train.

There were bombs lining the walls!

They'd created a contingency in case people had arrived.

Ruby swore.

Of course they had. Why hadn't she thought of that?

People didn't just ignore it when someone got involved in their plans again and again. They adapted and prepared for them.

This was their preparation.

She saw Weiss and Blake running towards them with a third – the chameleon Faunus – limping beside them.

"What's going on?!" Weiss cried over the sound of boulders smashing onto the underground buildings.

"There's no time" Qrow yelled. "Climb!"

It was an instant thing. Ruby moved, firing off Crescent Rise to rocket herself upwards.

Yang and Blake did the same with their own weapons and after a second Weiss summoned black glyphs, creating platforms for both herself and the injured Faunus.

"W-what are you doing?!" Ilia gasped.

The heiress scowled as she concentrated. One glyph after the other, stepping stones on the path upward.

"Saving your life." She shot back.

The next pair fired them upwards, and gave Ilia the chance to cast out her whip, latching on to some of the still solid walls.

She separated from them in an instant and they lost sight of her.

It didn't matter, they still had to make their own way out.

Below them, Ruby could hear the howls of Grimm. One of the bombs must have opened up the deeper caverns.

They didn't stop. Higher and higher towards the light until with a might leap Ruby breached the surface.

She grabbed onto the edge and pulled herself up, rolled onto solid ground.

She peered back over the ledge into the now nearly kilometre-wide hole as her uncle and team made it to safety beside her, landing unceremoniously in heaps.

They all gasped and panted heavily as the shaking underground ceased and they marvelled at what had just happened. Somehow, they'd all made it.

"That," Yang coughed. "Was definitely a thing. Holy crap." Ruby couldn't help but agree, and she let out a strangled gasp, climbing to her feet. "Yeah, well how about we get out of here already then. I think that's enough adventure for now."

Yang shot her a look and grinned.

Before her eyes widened in terror.

Ruby gave her a confused look and didn't have time to ask before Yang _shot_ forward, grabbing a hold of her hood and throwing her to the side.

Ruby gasped as she saw what was happening. A beowolf had climbed out of the hole behind her and made to bit off her head.

Instead it clamped down on Yang's arm.

Through her skin.

Ruby paled as a shower of red splashed across her face and she watched as Yang's right arm was _torn_ off in a hail of gore. Her sister screamed in agony, but it wasn't over and an Ursa appeared next, clawing itself out of the pit, sank its teeth into her right leg.

And dragged her back down into the darkness.

Ruby screamed

"YANG!"

...

* * *

 **Yep, I'm leaving it there.**

 **The trains are destroyed and the White Fang operation in tatters. The city is safe for now but what about team RWBY?**

 **You'll just have to wait for the next one to find out.**

 **I'm not sure if the shock value had any effect but you at least know what's going down. Yang's lost her arm and it's going t get worse, with getting dragged away by Grimm and all. she might already be dead. Who knows?**

 **Oh wait, I do.**

 **Oh well, like I said you'll have to wait for the next one.**

 **On a more honest note I'm a little worried about this arc. As you already know I've been planning the part out in my head for the longest time and now that it's happening I worry I'm moving to fast. Pacing is perhaps one of my biggest flaws storywise at least in my opinion.**

 **What do you think?**

 **Anyway, I'll leave it here for now. what did you think? did you like it? Hate it? let me know, and feel free to say what you think might happen next.**

 **So, all the standard, if you want to keep up to date and see more be sure to follow, favourite and review.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	25. Death under the mountain: Part 3

Yang screamed as she was dragged deeper into the darkness. She writhed desperately as her back scrapped against the stone and her hair caught on rocks and dirt.

It scratched and bled her, aura gone completely. She screamed until her throat ran raw.

She kicked out with her left foot, bashing it against the skull of the Ursa as it clamped around her right didn't give so much as a grunt of pain and sank its teeth in deeper.

A strangled gasp left Yang as it reached the bone, and it splintered under the strength of its jaws.

Her mind cried out as she sobbed painfully.

She was going to die.

She was going to die she was going to die she was going to die.

She didn't st[p struggling, hoping that by some miracle it would give up if it was hurt enough. But she knew better. Grimm never let go of their prey, killing was worth more than their lives.

And it was going to kill her.

She was dragged deeper and deeper, the Ursa thrashing its head back and forth as she tried desperately to escape. He body was like a rag doll, with only one arm she couldn't keep herself stable and was bashed on the rocks of the caverns.

Yang could barely see in front of her now, nothing but the glow for coal-burning red eyes, and the drop behind it.

Her breath quickened, she was hyperventilating now. If she went over the edge she was dead.

She kicked and screamed and punched as had as she could but it was useless. This Ursa was shrugging it off like it was nothing.

Qrow's words echoed in her mind. The Grimm here were far stinger than anything she'd faced before.

She let out a wretched sob. She wasn't going to kill it. Wasn't going to stop it from dragged her down to her-

She gasped, the twisted, horrible idea coming to the forefront of her mind.

She didn't have time to doubt it. She didn't even have time to think.

Yang raised her fist; she only had one part of Ember Celica now.

But it would be enough.

She cocked it back.

And drove it down, not into the Ursa.

But her own leg.

She choked on her pain, the new sensation of agony rocketing through every nerve she had. The shotgun blast has torn out a chunk of her kneecap, spurting blood everywhere and splintering bone.

Her auraless body had no way to stop or even heal it.

She did it again.

She screamed with a newfound voice as another chunk of flesh and bone was blown off. She'd bitten down on her tongue and blood was leaking from her mouth. But it didn't even register compared to the feeling in her leg.

She sobbed louder and did it again. And again and again and again.

She couldn't even bear to look at it; the messy shrew of bloodied and beaten flesh that was her leg. It was hanging on by threads, if the Ursa pulled hard enough it might just take her leg before it reached the edge.

She couldn't take that chance.

She slammed her head back, trying to dull her consciousness in an effort to ignore the pain.

Yang screamed out in pain and anger as Ember Celica came down one last time, separating her knee from her body in a hail of gory red and white splitters..

The Grimm didn't notice, and with the significant decrease in bodyweight to pull on it tripped as it tugged back, stumbling and rolling messily. It fell off the side of the cliff and it roared the whole way down.

Yang didn't even have a moment to breathe. She was still skidding down, her momentum on the uneven ground carrying her the rest of the way.

Whatever adrenaline that surged through what was left of her body was enough for her to twist on to her front and claw desperately at the ground with her remaining hand. Her fingers gave way to earth and stone, and in turn the earth and stone gave way.

There was a sickening churn in her stomach as the ground suddenly vanished beneath her stomach. In one last desperate grab for her life, she reached out and clamped down on the edge of the cliff.

There was a wretch, like a rubber band being snapped as she flamed into its face.

But she stopped.

There was a second of ragged breaths as yang dangled from the underground cliff with one arm. She was alive. She just had to pull herself u-

Her vision blurred, her head began to spin. She coughed up blood and spit as her heartbeat rang in her ear.

"No." she gasped out. "No, no, no."

She'd lost too much blood. She was losing consciousne-

Her fingers slipped as the strength she was known for left her body.

She didn't even have the energy to scream as she fell into the abyss.

 _I'm dead_.

The thought was a soft one, filled with none of the panic she'd felt just half a second before,

She knew it now. Nothing she could do would save her, and no one was here to save her.

She was going to die. She hadn't seen the bottom. Maybe the fall would kill her. Maybe it would be the Grimm at the bottom. She might just expire from a lack of blood.

Maybe that would be a peaceful death. She might find out.

Her eyes drifted shut for a moment, opening, closing as she lost more and more of her alertness.

All she could hear was a ringing and the sound of her own heart.

Her eyes opened again and like she always did, she saw hallucinations.

It was a shape, a person in red and black reaching out to her as she fell.

She couldn't see who, her sight was too hazy for that, but she could tell she was falling because the wind whipped at her back as she did.

The shape got closer, closer.

There was a pull as it reached for her, but that didn't make sense, it wasn't real.

Yang barely felt the rough stop, or the roll as the figure used their own body to shield hers as they hit the ground. She didn't feel the stop or the sensation of moving in a different way than before. She heard the growling of Grimm though, and she saw a flash of red.

Was… was someone actually here?

Ruby?

The flash of red moved, cutting through shadows by the dozens as they threatened to search her. Yang watched it all like a dream. She… was lying on her side. Why was she lying down?

Something shook, there was a flash of orange and heat. What was that.

And… voices. The red and black figure was facing something. Someone, in white.

" _Stay back… who are… do you want…"_

" _You have to trust…I … save…"_

They were… speaking. What were they saying?

" _I… take her… keep her alive and…. Where you can't…."_

" _No!"_

" _Trust me… my word."_

The red figure that had made the heat turned to Yang. Its head was white. No, that wasn't its head. It was... a Grimm mask.

Yang could barely keep herself awake now, but…there was something familiar about them.

It had glowing eyes.

And then there was nothing.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Yang!" Ruby cried, falling to her knees as she scratched uselessly at the cave Yang had been dragged into. The entrance had caved not seconds after and blocked Ruby from following.

"No, no, no, no, no please Yang." she choked. Her fingernails scratched on the stones as she tried to dig her way through like an animal, but she didn't have the strength for that.

All she was, was a child, clawing desperately after her sister.

"Help me!" she shouted over her shoulder to her team, who followed her into the massive hole. They looked horrified, agonised even.

Good, then they'd help.

She dug her fingers into the cracks of the rubble, any openings she could find to heave the rocks away.

"Ruby," her uncle said. "You need to stop."

What? Stop? Why?"

She didn't, and Qrow took a step forward.

"It's already too late Ruby," No, he wasn't saying that. "By this time Yangs already…"

He was. He was saying that!

" _Help me!"_ she cried.

The wretch in her voice jolted her teammates into action, and they hurried to take hold of any loose pieces they could find. If they could open up the entrance they could follow.

"Ruby stop." Qrow said again, he voice dipping into a growl.

No, she wouldn't stop. This was her fault. The beowolf had gone for her, like it was meant to, all because of her Avatar. She hadn't been paying attention, she'd been stupid. No… more than that she'd been unlucky. This was to do with Qrow just as much as her.

And it had been _Yang_ who had suffered.

He barked the order out again but she didn't even listen, didn't even perceive what it was he was saying. She had to save Yang, she needed to save her sister!

A shoulder latched around her shoulder roughly and yanked her away she stumbled back and fell, looking up at Qrow in shock. Weiss and Blake froze.

"I said _stop!_ "

"No!" she screeched, voice high and frantic.

He grit his teeth. "She's gone Ruby. She's not coming back. We need to leave, now."

Leave? As in go back to Beacon without her.

She felt growl escape her throat and shook her head. "No." she said with finality. "Not without Yang."

"Ru-"

"I'm not going to abandon her again!" she screamed, voice cracking. Qrow looked taken aback by the girl's volume.

Or maybe it was the rage in her eyes directed right at him.

Like a blade through the chest.

"You can hate your sister all you want," she snarled. "But don't project your issues onto my sister." She turned back to the entrance, digging with her hands again.

Qrow made to step forward, but froze when the heiress and Faunus let their hands fall to their weapons. The warning was clear.

The grizzled Huntsman stared at them. "You do realise by the time you find her she'll be dead don't you? I've seen this before Ruby… you can't get your hopes up on this. The Grimm don't stop."

"Then we'll-" her voice cracked. "Then we'll bring back her body."

Qrow shook his head in disbelief. Sheer disbelief in what he was hearing, the naivety, or maybe the foolishness. He checked his scroll. There was still no signal. He sighed. he hadn't been in this situation before.

But it had been close.

"I'm going back," he told them. "I'm bringing back transport. It might take days to prepare everything… I'll give you three days."

Ruby's shoulders stiffed, but she'd heard him.

"That's what it'll take for a bullhead to bring medical supplies. If you haven't found Yang after three days-"

"Then we'll keep looking." She snapped, unwilling to hear any of it.

"Ozpin won't let you stay out in a place like this-"

"Fuck Ozpin!" the silver-eyed warrior gnashed. "Fuck him and his lies and everything to do with him! I won't lose more of my family because of him!"

There was silence, all to be heard was the sound of fingers working way on stone. Then, the sound of footsteps, slowly retreating. Ruby knew the fluttering of wings would follow.

She didn't stop digging. She wouldn't she'd find Yang. They'd have to drag her away to stop her.

"Ruby?"

Her head snapped to her partner, who looked at her with concern.

"You... still have blood on your face."

Oh… right. Yang's blood had… she'd forgotten. The Reaper grabbed the edge of their cloak and wiped her face. The red speaking into it.

"I-I'm fine Weiss. We… we just need to…"

Blake rested her hand on her shoulder. "We'll find her Ruby. We won't stop until we do."

Right… of course. They cared about Yang too. They wouldn't abandon her or her sister. They wouldn't end up like her uncle's team.

They wouldn't end up like team STRQ.

* * *

…

…

* * *

When Yang came to, she was met with the sight of a bright light.

The first thought she had was to question whether or not she was dead, but, no, she was sure the headache she was experiencing wasn't something that transferred over to the afterlife.

It would really suck if it did.

The second was realised she'd been laid out on a table.

Not a wooden table but a table-table. As it a rectangular, white one they used in labs.

Was she in a morgue?

No, that wasn't right. Looking around she could see screens and boards with diagrams pinned to them.

Lab it was then.

But why was she here?

She looked down at herself and frowned.

There was a white sheet over her chest and draping over her whole body and she could feel… she wasn't in her clothes. She was in some sort of hospital gown.

Who had taken her clothes off while she was asleep? Who had dressed her while she was asleep.

Wait… where was she again? What had she been doing before?

The blonde groaned and made to sit up, pushing herself up with her arm.

She didn't move.

Or, she did, raising her body up, but falling back when she had nothing to lean on.

Her breath quickened. She reached over with her left arm and tore back the sheet.

Her eyes fell to where her arm should have been. Where her leg should have been.

They weren't.

She bit down on her lip so hard she drew blood and her eyes burned with tears that threatened to spill over.

She'd lost her arm. She'd lost her leg.

Her two right limbs were gone, wrapped in white bandages but doing nothing to hide the reality.

They were gone.

A scream built up in the back of her throat but she stopped it down.

She wouldn't cry.

She couldn't scream.

E-everything… was g-going to be fine. She-

She tried to sit up again using her good arm but she pulled at tubes she hadn't realised were there, latched onto her arm. The stand on her left fell over and hit the flow with a deafening crash in the otherwise silent room.

Her chest tightened. She couldn't even sit up. She was useless, less than useless. What was she going to do? What was she supposed to do now!? Her life was over!

There was a second crash.

She flinched, but froze when the sudden shuffling of feet could be heard.

In front of her was a door, like, a plain regular door, and out of it a man with a stack full of messy papers in his arms. He saw her and his eyes widened.

Or, eye. The other was a red glowing light.

"Ah you're awake. Thank goodness, I was beginning to worry."

She blinked. "Um… who are you?"

Just looking at him was an experience. He had messy, sporadic white hair, moustache and beard. Not only that, but with an overly large white lab coat, he looked… kind of goofy. Like a cartoon character.

"Oh!" he gasped in an overly cheerful voice, or, not overly cheerful so much as airy, as if he was some kind of clown. "Where are my manners? I am Doctor Merlot. I'm sure you're confused about the situation so please let me know if you want to know anything, but more importantly, what do you last remember?"

She frowned. "I…"

What _was_ the last thing she remembered?

It didn't happen like in the movies; there weren't flash of memories followed by a headache that revealed the truth like some sort of slideshow, but something did trickle at the back of her mind.

More like feelings rather than memories, but accompanied by images.

Dread and fear, an Ursa. Desperation and despair, darkness and falling.

Shock and relief… and a woman in red.

Yang looked around. "There was a woman. She saved my life. Do you know where she is?"

The doctor huffed. "I'd like to think I had a part in saving your life also, being the one to stop you from bleeding out."

"S-sorry," she laughed nervously. She made a motion of scratching the back of her head as she did it, only to realise again she'd tried it with her right arm. The one that was missing. Something wretched at her heart and she looked away from the stump. "A-anyway…yeah, know you help, but… do you know who she was?"

Merlot didn't comment on her sudden dampened mood even if it was clear to see, instead, he shrugged his shoulders and turned to one of the boards surrounding the room.

"I'm not sure to be honest. She wore a mask you see, and her voice was muffled. She was a Huntress though, that I could tell by the scores for Grimm she'd slaughtered protecting your body. SHe vanished shortly after however."

"Really? I don't remember that." Yang admitted.

"I don't expect you to," he laughed. "You were already dipping in and out of consciousness when I arrived but there were _a lot_ of Grimm corpses. I would have been saddened by all the specimens she destroyed if it wasn't for you there."

"Me?" she blinked. "Well I guess that makes sense, human life and all that."

"Hm? Oh, yes, that too but more you specifically."

What was that supposed to mean?

Merlot must have seen the question on her face because he suddenly looked as confused as her.

"Your abilities," he tried to explain, for all the good it did. "It's not often you find someone with the rare talent to-"

Whatever else he said was lost to her as the voices returned. The whispering and the screaming all sounded the same now, it was so loud it had her gripping her head with her good hand, she clenched her teeth and shut her eyes. Her pills; she needed her pills.

She looked out over the room desperately in search of her things, her pill should with her clothes, they had to be.

There! Just on her right in arms reach were what was left of her outfit and weapon. The pills just next to them. She sighed in relief, reaching over to take them-

Only for them to be snatched out of her reach.

"Ah, ah now!" Merlot chastised with a wagged of his finger. "We can't have you taken these."

Her eyes widened. "Give them to me!" she gasped frantically. "I need them."

"No you don't." he refused in a calm voice, as if he knew exactly what he was talking about.

She reached out again, trying to snatch them out of his hand. He just took a step back, and when Yang tried to follow her lack of an arm or leg had her falling off the table.

She landed painfully on her right side and rolled onto her front.

There was a pause. An embarrassed sort of awkwardness and Yang tried to pull herself up using the table as leverage. she managed to get back onto the table again, but it looked like the heat had gone out, leaving her to stare at her missing leg silently.

Doctor Merlot had the decency to look guilty and cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he coughed. "You don't need these."

"I do." Yang mumbled, though there was no strength in it. "I have visual and auditory schizophrenia… they stop me seeing things and hearing voices."

The man hummed. "That sounds about right… your symptoms I mean. It's not schizophrenia, it's magic."

Yang blinked. Twice.

"What?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake and Weiss watched in a stunned sort of awe at the sight in front of them. They liked to think they had a good grasp on their leader's skills. Yes, she was a prodigy, the kind that got her moved up two years and into Beacon academy without any formal training. But this?

"Whoa." It wasn't a word Blake used often, but Weiss couldn't help but agree.

After hours spent shifting rubble aside they'd managed to open the cavern entrance up enough to make their way inside. That in turn had opened up into an entirely new cave system; one with dozens of directions and potential places Yang could have been taken. That in itself mightn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the Grimm.

The Huntsman had been right: they were stronger than the ones in the emerald forest. These ones were tougher. They took more to take down, they shrugged off hits that would have crippled weaker ones and they hit _much_ harder.

And Ruby _tore_ through them.

She was a blur, her face covered by her hood all they could see was a figure carving through Grimm like paper. There wasn't a single moment where she stopped moving, not a second where she wasn't using her semblance to rocket her momentum into blinding strength. Her scythe had changed too, straightening into a war scythe.

The sound of steel slicing through muscle and bone was only eclipsed by the beasts' cries of pain.

By the dozens.

"When could she do this?" Blake whispered.

Weiss had the same question.

In combat training, Ruby was good. She was definitely in the higher part of the glass when it came to one on one combat and spars.

But nowhere near this level.

Dark limbs were sent flying continuously and black ichor was scattered on the stones.

"She's motivated," the heiress told Blake. "In her mind, the faster she kills these Grimm the faster she can get to her sister. She doesn't care about hiding anything right now."

The Faunus bit her lip. "You think she's been holding this back this whole time?"

"You don't?"

Blake didn't answer, but the thought was there, silently stirring in the back of both their minds.

With Ruby's secrets, the confrontation with her Uncle, the mention of the headmaster and now this…

They knew there was something going on. Something big.

Weiss steeled herself. "When this is over, we can find out what's going on. But for that to happen we'll have to find Yang. I'll give her a right earful for letting her guard down."

"You… really think she's alive?" There was something in Blake's voice that made her pause. Something small and dark, hidden under the worry and concern. Weiss knew what it was instantly; cynicism. The Faunus has been through horrible things in the White Fang, she'd seen people die and she wasn't one for hope.

She expected to find her partners corpse.

What that said about her…. Weiss wasn't sure.

"She'll be fine." Weiss told her. "Yang's strong. Stronger than us. If she can't get out of this none of us can."

She believed that. She had to.

"Come on," the heiress pressed. "I'm not sure she needs it, but we should help Ruby hurry this up as best we can."

"Any ideas how we can do that?"

Weiss felt a glyph form beside her at her call, the beginnings of an armoured hand formed.

"A few."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"So… magic?" Yang said again. She'd been waiting on the table for a few minutes now, after Merlot had asked her to give him a moment to 'set things up' or whatever.

He was still in the middle of arranging tables in front of her, with diagrams and some kind of medical x-rays. It took her a second to realise it was her, the picture a full buy image on a skeleton missing an arm and a leg, but there was something else on it; weird lines that travelled around it.

The old man let out a huff as he stepped back, taking it all in. he put his hands on his hips and nodded.

"There," he said. "Now we can get down to it."

"Riiiight." She stretched the word out slowly. "Well I don't think there's much to explain. You believe in magic. That's… cool I guess."

How an old man with half his face covered in robotics could pout was beyond Yang, but the doctor seemed to pull it off magnificently. "You could at least wait for me to explain my research before brushing me off."

She winced. "Sorry, guess I'm just not in the right state of mind to be nice about it." She gave an emphasis to the 'mind' part of it. "Go on."

"Right then," he nodded. "First things first we should look at what we know about the Grimm. Tell me if you've heard this before: the Grimm are creatures of darkness that have existed for as long as humanity. They are monsters of pure evil intent on destroying everything around them. It is unknown how they reproduce or even how they came to be in the first place, but they are something we see as a part of the world like the sky itself."

"Okay, I'm following so far." Yang nodded.

"Good, now, you see that description is a little bit wrong of course. Two things in particular are their method of reproduction and what the Grimm in fact are."

"And you know?"

"Precisely." He cleared his throat and turned to one of the boards. It was littered with several kinds of Grimm from Beowolves to Ursa to some that weren't even native to Vale. "The Grimm come in many, many shapes and sizes, but they all have a clear similarity in the darkness that leaks from them like smoke. That in fact, is the residue of what holds them together."

He ran a hand through his hair as he though out what he was going to say. It was as if he was getting back into a groove. He was a teacher, Yang realised. The tick was something Oobleck did all the time.

"Grimm are complete manifestations of magic in its wildest forms. Magic is chaotic, a force of nature that destabilises everything around it. Grimm blood is poisonous you know? Not when it's ingested, our aura's deal with it then, but if it gets into our bloodstreams it causes our organs to shut down, the chaotic nature of their blood sending the order of our bodies into a spiral. "That's what happened to you," he turned back to her for a moment. "But we'll get to that in a moment."

Right… get back to Grimm blood in her system, somehow that was the least crazy thing Yang was hearing right now.

"This chaos also gives a reasoning for their destruction: they seek disorder, or freedom, or wildness. The world returned to what it was before us. As such, they attack humanity and its creating, because they are not that wildness. We have magic in us, but Grimm do not have actual physical bodies, theirs are simply magic taking a solid form."

"Wait, wait, wait," Yang waved. "We have magic? Don't you think we would know if we had something like that?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you call aura and semblances?" he asked reasonably. "Or the dust we use in everyday life?"

"That's science," she argued. "We have explanations for that."

He scowled. "You have explanation yes, and yes, it isn't magic in the way the Grimm are, but is a _step_ towards it! Ozpin repressed that," he growled. "He buried history, transformed religions and turned lies into truth for people to believe as they liked."

"Ozpin?"

"Yes, what do you see here?" he asked suddenly, pointing to a new part of the board. On it was photos and paintings of a person. No, she realised, different people, hundreds and hundreds of different people. Why had she thought they were the same for a moment? Was it… the cane…

She drew a breath. "That's-"

"Ozpins cane. Funny little thing really, something you don't notice until you see side by side comparisons." He nodded. "He has existed for centuries, millennia even, warping events and changing the very course of history as he did so. I do not know the reasons why, but he has always been there, manipulating things."

"That's insane." Yang tried. "What you're saying is impossible. How does that have anything to do with aura and semblances?"

"Don't you see? He changed them! He changed the people's perceptions of something given to us by the soul and made it mundane." Again, he ran a hand through his hair. "Admittedly there is some difference; magic as I am explaining it is fundamentally different that aura and semblances, and it is wider, more exotic than anything you could do with a semblance, but it's a gateway. There is a specific link between the two forces that Ozpin erased."

"Okay, okay." She allowed. "So if we just think for a second what you're saying is true, what does that even mean? What is magic?"

He smiled at her. "Good question my dear. "Now, it is a harder question, and with so much of history hidden away it's hard to find everything, but what I've learned is that magic used to be far more plentiful that it was today."

He paused, turning to the third board, this one with a map of Remnant, and covered in red dots and circles.

"Thousands of years ago, the world was filled with creatures and people so fantastic you couldn't even imagine it in your wildest dreams. Giants, dragons, elves, sprits and thousands of other beings coexisted with humans. Even then the Grimm existed, fare less and far more manageable than they are today."

"But how?" she asked. This whole thing was crazy, like a fairy book, but damn it if this guy wasn't telling her something amazing. She wanted to know more, _had_ to know more. Something was calling to her. "If the Grimm and all this was there along with humans how did we even last this long?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I believe it has something to do with a race of humans with silver eyes."

… _what?!_

"They existed later than the rest of humanity," he went on, missing the shock that rippled across her face. "The passages were rare, and references to them are vague, but from what I could gather these silver-eyes warriors were peacekeepers. They received orders from... something. There are many words from them in an ancient language, and while it was lost along with history, I managed to get a rough translation: Guardians, warriors, Vanguard and sometimes even destroyers."

His hand ran across the map, along the circles.

"From what I could tell, they held no allegiance to anyone, no Kings or Queens. No Kingdoms or Empires . Yet they had a task, something old and sacred. It was to keep order. However they managed it, they seemed to be able to stop magic or… keep it in check. The passages I've read by scholars are all over the place as it is with several thousand-year-old writings steeped in magic, but some claim that they were the opposite of chaos. Keeping order."

He sighed.

"These points on the map are the last known locations of their strongholds: three in Atlas, four in Mistral, three in Vacuo, three in Vale, two on menagerie and.. one here." he said, pointing to the Dragon continent. It was what teachers called it in school – for its shape if that was't easy to tell – a place claimed completely and utterly by Grimm. Unscoured and undocumented, every expedition there resulted in failure, with not even a single person returning.

"This one was said to be the first line of defence against the biggest population of Grimm. 'A fortress on the edges of darkness holding back the endless end'. Castle Schwarz. Apparently the Silver-eyed warriors there constantly battled Grimm while the other castles kept the peace between Humanity and all of magical kind."

He sighed. "And then one day they were gone. Along with any mention of how. It was as if they simply vanished. No trace of them exists in the world anymore."

He was wrong.

The thought was a hysterical one as it permeated to the front of her mind. Her sister, Ruby had silver eyes. It was something she'd never so much as blinked at. Her sister had unique eyes, what else was she supposed to have thought about them? Sure it might have been strange that she'd never seen anybody but Ruby and her mom with them.

But this?

This was insane!

"S-sounds like a story, but what does this have to do with me exactly?"

"Ah well that's the interesting part!" Merlot said, spinning around to face her and taking a lecturing pose. "Tell, me what is it you see in your hallucinations?"

She blinked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything, go on," he pressed. "What do you see?"

She frowned, figuring that she might as well humour him and closed her eyes, trying to think. It was… strange… her frown deepened. Why was she having trouble remembering what she saw? It happened all the time. It was… like something had been cut off. But… there _was_ something.

"People." She said. "I… see people, or things because sometimes they're not people and… I hear voices but I don't actually hear what they say. It's all just like… noise in my head. But that's just schizophrenia, the doctor even said so."

Merlot snorted. "Yes, a doctor who learned all he knew at a school, reading textbooks by people he'd never met, approved by the councils of the kingdom, which were set up by Ozpin, who had suppressed almost any mention of magic from anything but myth. _Very reliable_ don't you think?"

She swallowed. "What are you trying to say?"

"That you don't have schizophrenia." He said matter-of-factly. "In fact, you have a gift, but it's been repressed and mismanaged so much it became your weakness."

He turned back to the board before she could speak.

"I realised who you were when I checked your blood. Yang Xiao-Long, interesting for sure, a family of huntsmen, but what's really important is your mother."

She swallowed again.

"Raven Branwen." He finished with a smile. "Interestingly, the term 'Branwen Tribe' is something tossed around nowadays in Mistral. Bandits, killers and thieves. A shame, considering what they used to be. You see, the Branwen Tribe has been around almost as long as the silver-eyed warriors, but even more interesting is that they disappear every few centuries before reappearing. Their members don't have to be related, and in this day and age it is filled with people with no real relation, but there is always someone with the same Branwen among them."

"You see, the Branwen's have always had a special ability, on routed in science as much as magic. Magic, needs a source, but instead of aura or the soul, its something physical, and as I told you with the Grimm, that physical thing can manifest into something." Have you ever hear of something called DMT?"

The blonde tilted her head. "Um… no. what is it?"

"Nothing, not anymore anyway." he shrugged. "Centuries ago before the King of Vale or his predecessors came into power it was a drug, or an ingredient in a concoction that allowed regular people to see spirits, connecting with the world in a way that is impossible today. It was siphoned from a plant that was of course wiped off the earth in a crusade long ago. We produce this chemical you know? It is produced in the pineal gland, what people nowadays would jokingly consider our third eyes." Merlot wasn't laughing.

His gaze locked onto her again. "The Branwen bloodline is special in that it produces an amount of this chemical nearly twenty times the dose of regular people. It wasn't until the King of vale and his predecessors as I mentioned before came into power that things changed. They started finding ways to limit the Branwen bloodline, diluting them in some way. They couldn't stop them entirely however, and the tribe disappeared until a few decades ago."

"Raven and my Uncle." Yang whispered.

"Precisely. They joined Beacon academy, and what do you know the headmaster at the time was none other than professor Ozpin. He needed spy's, loyal eyes to see what even he couldn't. He gave them other abilities to be sure but the most important was the chance to 'see more' again. Then your mother had you a few years later and it was passed on… to you."

"So…" she said slowly. "All this time. I've been thinking I was crazy, and delusional and seeing things that weren't there when I was actually seeing ghosts and hearing real people?"

"Yes. The drugs given to you by your doctor _would_ have helped if there was actually something wrong with you, but instead it disorganised your brain. The visions come in patches don't they? When emotions run high or low you start to feel it on the edges of your mind?"

"Y-yeah! It just happens at random times. I can't control it!"

"Would you like to?"

She froze, staring at him in wide-eyed shock.

"Y-you're kidding."

"Not at all." He grinned. "I may not be able to do it myself, but there are enough references to it in history referring to the Branwen's to find out."

She laughed in disbelief. "Where do you even find all of this history?"

His lips twitched, as if he was hiding a frown for just a second. She noticed it, but it was gone a second later.

"Let's just say… I have some contacts that were willing to provide me with the truth on Ozpins crimes."

He shook his head. "Anyway, before that there is the short order of getting you back on your feet."

"You mean that as a figure of speech right?"

"No, I mean it literally."

Yang should have known from the start that this guy had a thing for dramatics, because as he said it, he pushed a button on his desk, and said desk opened up with a hiss.

Two panels shifted and rose and Yang stared at what she saw in front of her:

Four glass cylinders a meter in height; one was empty, one had some kind of… black, moving ichor, but the ones that grabbed her attention were the last two.

It was an arm and a leg, made of a smooth, black crystalline substance, and intricate swirling carvings ran along them.

"Is that…?

"Obsidian," he explained. "A volcanic material said to hose the properties of fire water and earth, which I have shaped and fitted with individual cores."

Yang didn't ask what that meant, she couldn't tear her eyes away from them.

"What are they?"

The grin returned with excitement in his eye. "Have you ever heard of a golem?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

About an hour later, Yang sat on the edge of the table. After what was basically a world-shattering series of revelations, having to watch the old doctor fit on the black leg seemed oddly muted.

But when it was connected with her leg by some sort of inscribing where the flesh and rock met, she gasped.

"I can feel it!" she whispered. She could. It wasn't all there, not entirely. But there was _feeling_. It was a numb sensation, like she'd sat on her get for too long, but as she wiggled her toes she could only gap as the feeling was _there_ … this wasn't just some prosthetic.

"Indeed," he nodded. "These are magical catalysts, connected to your body and mind as if they were the real thing. You can cut off that feeling if you so choose at opportune times as well, and what you do with them is up to you. You won't be able to walk on it right away, and we'll hold off on the arm for a while, until your body adjusts.

"To the leg?"

"No, to the blood."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"Oh! Oh dear I forgot to tell you. Remember when I mentioned that Grimm blood was poisonous? Well some of it got into your system earlier. It shut down your heart and I had to have it replaced."

"My… heart or my blood?"

"Both." He hummed. "I replaced it with a dragon heart."

He… she was…

" _What?!"_

"Oh you know how it is," he waved as if it was a normal thing, when _no,_ it most certainly wasn't. "This mountain is an ancient dragon burial mound. Dozens came here to die thousands of years ago there's even a Grimm dragon sleeping in the peak of the mountain but it doesn't really count. I managed to collect specimens early on in my research and this was the perfect opportunity to use them."

"You…" she stuttered, still a bit slow on the uptake. "Gave me a dragon's heart?"

Her eyes snapped to the boards again, to the x-ray of herself she'd brushed off earlier. Those lines weren't just there for decoration. They were arteries!

"Well, a baby dragon's heart, it had fully formed in the egg but never hatched. A fully grown dragon's heart would be far to bg. Don't worry, it won't grow too large in your chest. It'll adapt. You know, dragons blood a heart was said to cure all ailments and grant nearly eternal life. You're probably healthier than you've ever been."

"How did you even get it in!?" she shrieked.

"I cut open your chest." He blinked, pointing to her. She looked down, and pulled at the hospital gown. She gaped. Right there, on her chest over her heart was a thin white line. Miniscule and barely visible from anything but the closest distance.

He'd cut her open!

He'd replaced her heart with a dragons!

He'd… probably messed with her hair too!

Her eyes flashed red as she glared at him.

Merlot seemed to realise he was in trouble judging from how he flinched back.

"N-now hold on now! What I did was a good thing."

"Merlot!" she roared.

Let it be known, that when the Doctor Merlot of Merlot industries, scientist and researcher, was faced with an angry teen missing half their limbs, he ran like it was nobody's business.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **So that's the end of another chapter. It was a big one on terms of information, maybe a little bit of an exposition dump but an important set piece. You'll see why soon.**

 **Just to let you know, I used the german word for Black as the name of the castle. Since the Brothers Grimm were german I thought it a good link to make.**

 **Other than that I got plenty of messages either saying that it was horrible Yang was dead, or that they didn't believe she was. More of the second than the first but it was still fun to see how many people seemed genuinely upset about it. Don't you guys know the rules? Unless they die on screen their not confirmed dead.**

 **Or, well since this is writing, not until it's written down.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think? Did you like this chapter? Did you hate it?**

 **Let me know what you think.**

 **Other than that, be sure to Follow, Favourite and Reveiw.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	26. Death under the mountain: Part 4

**Just a quick notice before we begin, I have something that's _probably_ important.**

 **While writing this chapter, I was aware that a lot of information was bing spewed, similar to the last one, and the chapter was growing far to big.**

 **So, my solution was to slit it in half, mostly because I felt bad about giving you another exposition dump, but because it made the pacing better.**

 **So TLDR you'll be getting a chapter today, and another chapter tomorrow, so don't be confused if another alert for this story appears the next day, it's meant to be there.**

 **More at the bottom as always.**

* * *

...

* * *

Ruby woke up with a gasp sweat pouring down her face. The moon was shining above her and cold winds bit into her skin. Where was she? Where- Oh gods, Yang! Where was Yang!?

She looked around. She… was on a roof. That was right… they'd found nothing on the first day and because of all the Grimm had to pull back to set up camp again. They were on one of the higher buildings overlooking the chasm.

She glanced to her left. Weiss was still asleep buried in her bedroll with a frown etched into her features.

Blake…

Blake was sitting on the edge of the skyscraper.

With a sigh Ruby stood up and made her way over to her Faunus teammate, who ears twitched at her approach.

"Couldn't sleep?" Blake asked as she sat down beside her.

"No… you?"

"Never went to sleep." She chuckled with a wry smile.

The younger girl couldn't blame her really. With where they were and with her partner missing it wasn't too unreal to think Blake wouldn't want to rest but still.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ruby asked. "If you're exhausted then what's going to happen if things go bad?"

"I've worked on less sleep before. Don't worry." Blake assured her. "It's better this way anyway. I can keep a lookout while you two get some rest."

"Oh… well, thanks for that I guess."

There was a beat where neither said anything before Blake shifted slightly.

"Ruby… can I ask you something?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

The Faunus bit her lip as she thought about how she was going to approach this.

"What's going on with you and Ozpin?"

Blake winced almost instantly, because her leader practically turned to stone, even her breathing stopped. Yeah… this was a conversation filled with landmines.

"What do you mean?"

An even bigger wince.

Ruby's voice was flat and dull. Like she'd cut off everything as she spoke. This was how she'd fought yesterday too; she'd been a whirlwind, but she'd been blank.

No. it was like she was forcing herself to be blank, because if she let out how she was feeling it would be destructive.

Blake had seen what that was like. With Adam.

Why… why was it these two sisters reminded her so much of him?

"I… just want to know something." She pressed on despite their sudden mood shift. "I want to know if what your doing with the headmaster is dangerous. That whatever's going on isn't as bad as we think it is. Can you tell me that?"

That was all she'd have to say. As long as Ruby assured her this wasn't a massive mess Blake would be fine. She'd be able to keep herself calm as they looked for her partner-

"No." was the response, and it killed Blake's thoughts dead. "It's the most dangerous thing you could possibly imagine, multiplied by a hundred. It's far bigger than the White Fang Blake, far bigger than anything you've dealt with before. Just… just leave it. It's better if you don't know, trust me."

The Faunus didn't agree.

"Was it better for Yang?"

She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, but it was too late and suddenly Blake couldn't move.

In that instant all of her instincts screamed at her to run. That she was in danger. But her body locked up. Her eye widened as she forced herself to look at her leader.

She felt cold. Freezing even. It was as if the temperature had dropped.

Ruby took a breath.

And it was gone.

Just like that it was as if it had never existed in the first place.

Blake kept her eyes locked on Ruby.

"You're right." The younger girl said after a moment. "This is my fault. You don't even realise how much this is my fault and you're right anyway. if I had told Yang the truth at the beginning of the year… no, if I'd never left in the first place things would be so much different. this all happened because I couldn't tell her. She might be dead because I-"

Her voice cracked and Blakes' hands found hers immediately.

"Stop Ruby," she hushed. "If you think like that nothing will be any better. We need to find yang. We need you to lead us there."

Ruby sniffed, tears were beginning to run down her cheeks.

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know," the Faunus admitted. "But you will. I trust you. We'll find yang, and we'll all go home I'll be there with you, I promise."

Ruby nodded rapidly. "Right." She said. "Sure."

A second later she stood up. "We could probably start now. I don't think either of us are going to get back to sleep. I'll go wake Weiss."

"R-right" Blake nodded, watching as her leader left.

Had she imagined it…

Or had Ruby's eyes been glowing?

* * *

…

…

* * *

"W-whoa!" Yang cried out, stumbling forward and flailing her arm.

Merlot caught her before she could fall flat on her face, but she still glared at him when he chuckled.

"This isn't funny!" she growled.

"It's kind of funny."

"No!"

"Yes."

She sighed, pushing herself off him and wobbling again as she tried to stand straight. She scowled down at her new leg.

"Why is this so hard?"

"It's a new limb Yang; things like this are going to be difficult at first."

"But it's the same size as my old leg!" she argued. "I should be able to _stand_ up straight."

The old man rolled his eyes. "It's also heavier, as in, several kilos heavier. It's like you have half a person strapped to your leg. It'll get slightly lighter as you adjust and manipulate the flow of magic, perhaps you'll even be able to perfectly balance it, but right now your centre is off, not to mention missing an arm doesn't help distribution"

She frowned. "Then why don't you give me the arm?!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? You can barely manage as it is now, I'm not going to add extra weight to it."

"Point." She allowed, shifting a little to sit back on the table. She looked around. She… hadn't actually been outside the laboratory yet, which was a bit weird, but considering she hadn't been experimented on she could brush it off as it being the best place for her right now…

Oh… wait.

"Hey doc," Yang asked suddenly, looked down at her chest. "Can ask about the whole 'dragon heart' thing?"

He blinked. "Hum? Oh yes of course of course ask away," he told her, pulling up a chair to make himself more comfortable and holding a clipboard.

The blonde narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Archiving!" he grinned. "I'm curious to see what you feel now that your body is adapting to the new organ and blood or if specific circumstances need to be filled."

"Or… there could be no differences." She tried.

Merlot rolled his eyes and looked at her seriously. Or as serious as he could with a face like his.

"Do you really think having a _dragon heart_ is going to do nothing? Come on dear. Besides, it's not like this hasn't been done before."

She stared. "What really?"

"Well… not with anything of the draconic variety." He admitted, "But there are numerous accounts of people using Spriggan, Harpy or Mermaid hearts as replacements because they had humanoid characteristics."

"Those things… actually existed?"

He nodded. "Indeed they did. And far more… didn't I tell you yesterday about magical creatures?"

"W-well yeah," she gasped. "But I thought spirits were the craziest things you were gonna talk about. And I didn't really know what to think about the dragon bit but you're telling me there's more!?"

"Hundreds more!" he laughed. "Entire civilizations of creatures that you couldn't even imagine! Some terrifying and some spectacular."

"The Ruins." Yang breathed.

"Sorry?"

"The ruins," she said again, more excited this time. "Beside Beacon when we took our initiation. We had some history classes on it later talking about them. Our professor told us there was an entire city before Vale there."

"Yes I've heard of it." he nodded. "I never managed to find the name, but there are mentions that it was one of the major cities due to the fact that it was accessible from nearly every continent by sea, at least it was a few thousand years ago."

"So what are we talkin' about? Like, what kind of place would it have been?"

"Well I'm not sure," he admitted "I wasn't there, but I did go on an expedition down there once or twice in my early days."

"You went to Beacon?"

"More on the academic side of things but yes," he hummed. "Anyway, it wasn't always an underground city. The cavernous ceiling was younger than the building, so something had to have buried it, yet allowed it to keep its structure a long time ago. Other than that, it appeared to house a population even bigger than the current city."

"Seriously?" she grinned.

He hummed. "You seem awfully excited about this."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "How can I not? I'm learning about _magic_. Freakin' magic! Hey do magic' creatures still exist?"

"They do yes, although perhaps we should stop calling them magical creatures. The term is too much of a broad one."

"So what is there?" Yang pressed.

"Well goblins are a common one even in this day." He said, sketching something down on the clipboard. "There are several subspecies of those. Spirits of course are another obvious one and maybe even a few shapeshifters."

He sighed sadly. "Unfortunately there isn't much more than that. At least not that I can find. Magic is… just _less_ than it used to be. People have forgotten about it and it's been lost. If magic saturated the world like it did long ago them perhaps things would return to the way they were, though I wonder what that might do to the rest of it all."

He shrugged. "Well, we can think about it another time. Come on then, let's try to get you standing properly this time."

She sighed. "Okay fine."

Yang wasn't exactly happy with having to struggle with this again though and she made sure Merlot knew by glaring at him as she pushed herself off the table. Her legs were wobbly, as if made of jelly. She hated it. Hated how standing of all things was hard she hated herself for-"

"There we go," Merlot whispered soothingly, taking her left hand in his. "Now just try to take a few steps slowly."

She swallowed and did as she was told. Her left foot as easy, but as she tried to move her new leg, she really felt the weight of it, and her leg shook as she moved it.

She managed though.

She did it again. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. All the while the doctor held her hand, leading her around the room gently. all the while Yang looked down at her bare feet, trying her best to keep herself steady.

"So," she mused aloud as she did it. "Is this the kind of thing people with prosthetics go through? Like, relearning to walk?"

"Not quite," he hummed. "You're not relearning for one, but even if you were your leg will become a part of you. Just like your old one. It might not feel completely the same, but you'll still have your sense of feeling in it. and… well I have a few things to teach you with it, reassurance if you will, to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.

"Really? What?"

"Just keep walking. We'll get to that eventually. Let's try a little bit faster why don't we?"

Merlot picked up the pace, shuffling backwards a little faster as he watched Yang's progress. She bit her lip, concentration keen as she working to keep up with him.

This wasn't so hard. She just had to make sure she didn't do something stupid. It was just walking after all, how hard could it really be?

Right foot, then her left foot and right foot again. Her slow wobble was a tentative walk now. It wasn't anything fast by any stretch of the imagination, and it was still shaky but it _was_ walking.

Okay, the doc was right. It wasn't relearning it was just… like she was loosening up her joints, no… easier than that. It was like she was trying to walk on a numb leg.

Hadn't he said it didn't have to be numb?

What did she have to do again? Something about pushing magic into it.

Well… that couldn't be too hard right? She could do it with aura already to protect her body she just had to find out how to do it with this… magic stuff.

He'd said something about her brain the day before. So maybe it was some kind of mental thing.

She kept walking tentively as she closed her eyes, focusing on thinking up some kind of mental image. She pictured her body, like the diagram on Merlots wall, except she added her new leg into the picture. Yeah, even in her mind she could see it. It was a hollow vessel kind of thing.

No aura went to her new leg, so it was basically empty.

Could she push something into it to fill the space?

How about… wait… what was…

There was a sudden pressure. A tiny thing, like someone was poking her, right between her eyes but, further back. Right in the middle of her head. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable. It was just there.

Maybe…

Yang bit her lip, and tried to roll it, it was a sort of ball, something that wasn't fixed in place.

She rolled it. Down her spine and onto her right side, on her leg, to her knee.

She gasped and stumbled a little, but right away her right foot came down to steady her.

"What is- oh my!" The old man gasped.

Yang grinned, opening her eyes as she looked down at her feet. She wiggled her toes and hopped onto her left foot, then hopped onto her right foot. Back and forth. It was an almost instant thing! Her legs felt the same, exactly like her real one, like she'd never lost it in the first place.

"How's that old man?"

"Astounding!" He breathed. "I'd expected it to take far longer… it should for any regular Magi… you have a talent for sure."

The blonde arched an eyebrow and shot him a confused look. "Magi? What, you mean like a magician?"

The doctor gave her an unimpressed look. "No, I most certainly do not. A magician is someone who plays card tricks and pulls rabbits out of hats. They're jokes. Although perhaps it is good of you to ask. It's good to know the distinction between them."

"Oh yeah? What kind of distinction?"

He hummed, putting a hand under his chin. "Well… as far as I know there are three types, maybe four-ish: Sorcerers use magic from the world around them. It's all external. There shouldn't be many of them, what, with the magic in the air at a low point. A Wizard while seeming like male-only term simply refers to magic users who only use an internal power source. As in, all of their magic is there and doesn't rely on anything else. You are a Magi, essentially something in between. You have an inner power source, but in order to use magic effectively you mix that power with magical energy in your environment. You're basically the all-rounder, viable in any situation but unless it's under specific circumstance you lack the speciality of the other two."

He gave a little wave. "Then there are the artificers; who essentially are like the researchers of magic. They study tools and magic items. Though anyone can use them."

Yang nodded slowly, looking down at her remaining hand. "So… magi then."

"Indeed. From what I can tell from my research, Ozpin is a Wizard, and anything that comes from him would fall under the same distinction... Possibly. There's something different about him however… something I can't quite place. Immortality should not be possible even with the power of a wizard. Of course you've probably heard other names like which or warlock, those things are just arbitrary names however, or perhaps titles for specialities."

"Huh… hey, can I ask you somethin' doc?"

"Of course," he smiled. "Ask away."

"How do you know Ozpin exactly?"

The smile slipped off his face, becoming a troubled frown.

He hesitated for a moment.

"Let's… let's just say we worked together for a time… our goals, not to mention personalities however were too different from one another. I decided to leave before things got worse… although, perhaps they did anyway. I've made plenty of mistakes on my own."

She blinked at the sudden tonal shift, but laughed in an effort to lighten the mood.

Only to cry out suddenly and grip her head.

Merlot turned to her with concern.

"Yang what is it?"

"M-my head." She told him through gritted teeth. "I-it's the voices again. It's like their bouncing around in my head."

"Not quite," he muttered. "Yang, I want you to do as I say alright? Focus that same magic you used in your leg and try moving it to your eyes and ears."

She nodded through the pain and did as she was told. Her leg felt heavier again and she pushed that little ball of pressure up her spine again but she ran into a problem straight away, it couldn't… it couldn't-"

"I can't do it!" she gasped.

He shook his head. You can. You need to separate it. Split it in two and control both.

Split it? No… no that wasn't it. She couldn't take it apart. It was a constant. Like a solid…

But maybe she could get it to leak.

It was hesitantly at first, but she knew the pressure was just her own visualisation of it. it wasn't really there. So if she could change her view of it maybe it would actually work.

Roots. She needed to make it into roots like a tree, something it could feed magic to.

Tiny thread-like tendrils moved in the darkness of her mind, to her head, down her spine.

She shivered. It latched onto her leg, her eyes and ears.

Her chest.

She gaped again, feeling her heart beat faster and a light leaked through her eyelids.

Merlot gasped.

She opened her eyes and looked down. It was the faintest thing, a tiny, tiny glow, but it was there!

A golden outline of her heart could be seen through her chest, beating rapidly.

She flexed her good arm, feeling strength flow through it.

"What's going on?"

"I think," Merlot whispered. "That we are witnessing something I should archive later." He looked up to her away from her chest – she didn't even feel bad since he looked at it with curiosity for than anything else – and to her face. "How do you feel? Is there anything different?

"Y-yeah. I feel stronger. As in way stronger than I usually do. It's like my semblance is on half way."

"Oh?"

"My semblance is a strength boost," she explained for his sake. "I take damage and it basically stacks onto what I can do already. There's this feeling to it though, I know it's not _my_ strength, just a temporary thing. This is different. It feels fresh, like it's mine."

"That's because it is." He told her,. "If we're to go off your unique ability it's almost like your 'base' strength has increased. But what does it actually feel like in your body?"

"Warm, but not in a bad way. Feels like the engine running… you know?"

"I see." He smiled. "Tell me, are the voices still bothering you."

She stopped, blinking suddenly at the realisation they were gone. She gaped at him. Had it been that simple? That easy?!

He chuckled at her face.

"Alright now, since that's an obvious enough answer how about we move onto the next thing?"

"Which is?"

"Try turning it on again by choice."

"What?! Why!"

"Trust me on this will you? I expect it to be far different from what you're used to."

She sighed reluctantly. "You're the doctor I guess. Okay so what do I do? Turn the magic off or something?"

"Hmm… no, how about refocusing the magic in your eyes and ears. Think about it like flipping a switch, or whatever other visual set piece you could use." Right… Yang could do that, no problem. So, she had to change it again? Or, like, at least change how it works in her mind. She had the roots so maybe…

The tendrils in her mind touched her senses. If the doc was right everything was 'off' at the moment. So if she had to turn it on… she had to make it…alive right?

A face flashed into her mind.

Flowers bloomed in her mind.

The voice came back. Not plural, singular.

Yang opened her eyes and nearly jumped back at what she saw.

Merlot nodded. "Fascinating. Your eyes are red now. I'm assuming that's normal isn't it? Although probably not like this… what is it? What are you looking at?"

Yang didn't answer. Her eyes were locked on the figure before her.

It wasn't anyone she recognises, but it was a person. An actual person. They looked bright but see through. An actual god damn ghost!

And they were muttering to themselves.

"Hello?" she called out. The doctor went quiet, realising what was going on and letting her do it. The ghost didn't answer.

"Hey!" she called again. "Listen to me will ya? You with the glowy body."

The person stopped. Blinked and turned to her with wide eyes.

She suppressed a reflexive flinch.

So… apparently ghosts didn't have pupils. It was li completely why, but somehow Yang knew they were looking back. How did that even work? Did light pass through their eyes or did they absorb it?

"You can see me?" the ghost whispered. It was a woman's voice, and their form became ridged, easier to see.

Some woman in her thirties, with long hair and a rounded face. She looked perfectly normal, with clothes not even twenty years out of date.

Yang nodded. "Yeah, I can see you."

The woman smiled, actually smiled, wider than Yang has thought would be possible for someone on the dead side of life. But they looked positively ecstatic.

"Oh my god this is wonderful!" she preened. "You can see me! You can hear me!"

"Um… so… what do you want?"

"What do I want?" The woman stopped, blank eyes dulling even more as she looked off into the distance. "What… do I want? What do I…"

And then she was gone. Just like that.

Yang stared. What had just happened?

"Are you alright Yang?" Merlot asked suddenly, and her attention snapped back to the real world. The reality of what just happened crashed down around her.

"I just saw a ghost!" she cried. "I just saw a freakin' ghost. Holy shit!"

"Language," he reprimanded, rapping her skill lightly. "And no, not quite."

"Huh?" she blinked in confusion. "But I just saw-"

"A memory." He cut in firmly. "I was nothing but an echo of person. If it had been a ghost, it would have left an imprint on the world. It is not something to diffuse yet, but believe me when I say it was not the real thing."

She frowned. "So what _is_ the real thing then? I mean, come one, I know what I saw?"

"Do you now?" there was a warning in his voice. "Believe me Yang, if there were Ghosts in this cursed mountain any more, I would have already gone mad from… well… nevermind that now.

"Although." He mused. "Funny enough that leads us on to what I wanted to try out. Tell me what you see in this."

The old man turned to a desk, the one that had held her new limbs and pressed the same button as before. It hissed open and the glass cylinders came up, but this time Yang's eyes locked ono the black mass from before.

But this time.

It was _very_ different.

"You see it don't you?" he asked, gaze locked on it himself.

Before it had been odd by itself; some kind of black liquid that moved as if it was alive, about her height but apart from that it had seemed irrelevant in the face of everything that had happened in such a short period of time.

Now it rippled. Shifted. Moved. Warped. Whatever word she used to describe the way it travelled around wasn't good enough. It was _alive_ in a different way now.

No. it had been before. Now she could see it though. And it was bright. Beneath the black there was grey, some kind of light coming from inside, but not casting even a single shadow.

"What is it?" she whispered in awe.

"I told you how magic was chaotic didn't I?" the doctor said. "Magical creatures are strange in their variety, but they are magic all the same. This is perhaps the strangest I have found in my albeit limited travels. I saw it with my own eyes as it happened you know?"

"You see, spirits are magic closest the Grimm than anything else. But whatever is in their being they cannot take physical form. Or they shouldn't. This is what happens when they do: this thing attempted to take form without a body, without possession something and instead became a sort of warped hybrid. In case you are familiar with the title, this is what you would call a 'wraith' although the actual term is translated into 'Bâ'"

He gave a sigh. It was heavy, but filled with wonder.

"This has been the closest thing to success I have been able to achieve."

Yang couldn't look away from it. It drew her in. "What do you mean? It… doesn't look like it does anything."

"Oh but it does!" he preened. "For all the destructiveness of the Grimm, they are magician creatures. It takes more than you'd think to kill them. You probably forget because you're a Huntress, but those without aura have a rarely successful encounter with a Grimm. Usually it takes ten men to kill but a single Beowolf out on the frontier."

He looked excited, warming up to the lecture. "This is because of their ferocity and desire to kill yes, but it is also because of their endurance. Grimm can survive mortal wounds, and you are trained in killing blows when it comes to combating them are you not?"

She nodded. It was true. It was a lot different for humans, but for Grimm Yang had been taught where the best places to punch were for the basic types of Grimm.

"Then you must also have noticed how even shattering their bones does not stop them, that is because their magic-fuelled bodies are far more vigour enhanced than ours. It is almost like they heal at such a rate that they do not slow down. Now picture that endurance, that healing factor in a form that can be transferred to humans."

The relation dawned on her and she recoiled.

"You want to try this on people?!" she hissed. Her mind suddenly raced, putting the pieces together far too fast. It would be the perfect reason to use her, especially with missing limbs. "You want to put that near them! On me?"

"No, no of course not!" he rushed to assure her. "This is but a prototype, a basic template that I wish to extract from. And I would never try it on you. This sort of thing is not to be used lightly, how it would interact with the body is unpredictable with all the magic condensed in it. Only those mortally wounded themselves would be viable for this… I cannot even imagine what this could do if they did not have need for it… or if too much time had already passed."

Right. What had she been thinking? The old man was a nice guy. He wouldn't do something like that to her. Heh… for a second there her instincts had screamed at her to run from him. Maybe she needed to get some quality R and R after this?

He shook his head and turned to her, leaving it on display but out of mind for the moment. "Now then. Since you've progressed far faster than I initially planned or expected maybe we could move things along. How about we test out the arm as well?"

She grinned. Finally!

* * *

…

…

* * *

"What do you see?" Ruby called down one of the tunnels where Blake stood. The Faunus overlooked a chasm but with their sight she could see the bottom well enough.

"It's a dead end." She called back up. Ruby let out a frustrated growled from above. This was the tenth or something tunnel they'd looked and so far nothing, not even a clue. They got to what Yang felt was somewhat close a few times but then they'd lose the trail.

Weiss put a hand on her shoulder. She looked as tired as Ruby felt, the new aspect of her semblance having been a great help dealing with Grimm, but draining her significantly.

Weiss just wasn't an endurance fight. In fact, she probably had the least amount of stamina compared to anyone in team RWBY or JNPR. It was just stubbornness and determination keeping her standing right now.

"It's alright," the heiress assured her. "This just means we can check off another area. Right?"

The reaped let her eyes close for a moment as she took a breath and nodded. "Yeah you're right. Maybe we should take a break."

Weiss straightened up suddenly. "No! No that's not it. We can still keep going. It's only noon.""

"You need rest Weiss."

The heiress scowled. "I'm fine, I can keep going just like the rest of you." Ruby shook her head as Blake finally reached the top. "We've been at this for the last seven hours. There's no point in finding Yang if we can't even get her out of here because we can't stand."

"You're sure you want to stop then?" Blake asked, scrubbing her hands through her hair. Dust and rubble came out in flakes as she did so.

"So," their leader sighed. "I want to keep going, but we can't. We _have_ to rest."

"No Ruby I can keep-"

" _Weiss._ " She bit sharply, cutting her partner off. "I said we're resting, end of story."

The Schnee swallowed and looked away.

The younger girl sighed tiredly, running a hand over her face before resting it on the Weiss' shoulder.

"It's not your fault Weiss, trust me. We'll take a break for an hour then get back to it okay?"

"…fine."

With that they made their way back out of the caverns and back up to camp. Blake practically collapses down next to the campfire, savouring the few dying embers left as they gave off warmth.

"So, how many is that?" the Faunus asked.

"Eighteen." Ruby said as she watched Weiss sit down tiredly. "There should be… about four, maybe five cavern left. One of them has to have a way deeper. I think I saw some weird light coming from one of the eastern side of the hole. We can check that one out later."

Blake nodded. "Sounds good…. Is there… any word from your uncle?"

The reaper scowled. "No, nothing. He was probably telling the truth about there being no signal, for as much good as that does us."

"What about the transport? It should be here tomorrow."

"Yeah…"

"What do you think is going to happen?"

Ruby sighed. "I don't know. I guess they'll want us to go back. If we don't have Yang with us by then we might have a fight on our hands."

"You're really planning on staying here until you find her?"

"I am… what about you? Are you staying too?"

Blake nodded seriously. "Of course… besides, it'll be a hassle is I have to get a new partner, can you imagine going through the drama with the White Fang again?"

Ruby managed a choked laugh at the joke as it took her off guard, and shook her head in exasperating at Blake's humour, making sure to shoot her a mock glare as she did.

"I'm staying too." Weiss told them as she sat up properly.

They nodded. "Obviously," Blake hummed. "I wouldn't expect you to quit just because something was hard."

"You're right," Weiss huffed. "And when we find Yang I'll be sure to give her a proper telling off for making us worry like this."

They laughed at that.

Briefly.

It died down a second later and Ruby stood up again. "Let's get back to it.

"I thought you wanted to rest for an hour."

"Do you think you could wait around that long?"

Blake sighed. "No."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang watched silently as Merlot got to work, laid out on the table again the obsidian arm was aligned with her stump.

"Hey doc," she began as she watched him get to work. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you use obsidian for the arm and leg? Isn't it like, really weak? I heard it was basically glass." Wouldn't stone or metal be better?"

He hummed. "It might have been," he admitted. "The problem is that it wouldn't be quite as effective at allowing magic to flow through it. It wouldn't feel like an arm you understand? It would be a prosthetic without feeling."

"Right." She nodded. She could see that.

"Besides," he went on. "It might be obsidian but it's also a piece of a golem. The material is _alive_. It doesn't have sentience, but it still wants to stay together if you know what I mean. Basically it's as strong as metal as long as you want it to be but I wouldn't worry about it breaking on you."

"Okay, cool. So what about the patterns on it? Are they just there for decoration or…?"

"They have a use," he confirmed. "Though one you get better at controlling it the grooves will only appear when you manipulate magical energy in your arm. They're essentially amplifiers. Usually magic comes from certain points: like fingers or palms for the less experienced magi. This just lets you use it along the entire length, for flexibility sakes."

He looked back at his hands, which held precision tools. "No now more questions. Let me have silence for a moment while I do this."

She nodded and kept quiet, watching him work as he moved the arm closer to the end of her arm. The whole thing was solid but it looked a little strange from where she was.

Like her leg, it included the joint where she'd lost it, but Yang could see it… open up as it got closer.

No, that wasn't it. It dissolved at the edges as it pressed against her skin.

The blonde let out a gasp as the feeling of cold air washed over her.

Merlot pressed a scalpel right where the flesh and obsidian met and pressed down. There was no incision, but it worked to open a hole in the aura that flared instinctually.

Threads of obsidian stretched out, not like string, but like thousands upon thousands of nearly microscopic grains me3lding with her body.

It was done a second later, and Merlot sat up.

"There we go." He said. "Try it out."

Yang didn't say anything as she sat up herself, looking at her new right arm for a moment before flexing her arm. She lifted it up, and with as much effort as it took to move her real hand, she wiggled her fingers.

A grin overtook her face without her permission.

"Awesome." She breathed, and the old man chuckled.

"Indeed it is. Do you know what makes it even more awesome though?"

"What?"

He took her hand in his, facing her palm upward and tensing. Yang's eyes widened as a tiny spark shot up from her hand. She nearly pulled away on instinct but he held her firm.

"Keep going." he soothed. "Focus on keeping it alive."

She did as she was told; doing the same thing she'd gone before.

The flower bloomed in her mind.

Yang gasped at the flame.

It was a tiny thing, barely bigger than fly. It was so small it didn't even give off light.

But it was there. It was hers.

"Now _this_ is awesome." He said.

She laughed.

Yeah… it really was.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **So, as I said, another chapter coming sooner that usual, and I've finished with most of the learning session on the world of Remnant as it is in this story for a while.**

 **We can get on to some better stuff now, and pretty soon, the conclusion of the Mountain Glenn arc.**

 **I'd remember Cinders words if I were you.**

 **Hopefully a little more character development too, but even if you don't think so I'd keep on the look out for a few very _personal_ moments about to show up.**

 **Who's excited for those huh?**

 **So, what did you think? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know why.**

 **AS always is you want to stick around for more be sure to Follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	27. Death under the mountain: Part 5

**So before we start I'd just like to mention two things related to RWBY that I got my hands on recently.**

 **The Soundtrack, and the Manga by Shirow Miwa.**

 **First, the music, as always is amazing and I think that overall this was my favourite one.**

 **Of course All things must die was my favourite but I liked the meaning of the other songs.**

 **lIke Smile of instance. Anyway, great music, playing that aloud consistently.**

 **Second, the Manga. Now, I'd actually gotten the paperback last month but only got around to finishing it last week and forgot to talk about it. I'd known about the controller Grimm and what it could do beforehand from mentions online but it was better reading it myself.**

 **I also** _LOVED_ **the art style and character designs. The Grimm, the fights, Blakes ear's! It's what I mentioned a few chapters ago. Hell they made Adam intimidating again for me!**

 **The only design I had a problem with was Port.**

 **He's supposed to be a Huntsman... he looked like a potato**

 **What was he going to do, roll on the Grimm?**

 **Anyway, i'll let you get to the chapter now.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **...**

* * *

People have a number of different types of smiles.

There's the amused one, that one with a little quirk at the corner of mouth that said you enjoyed whatever it was that was happening.

There was the attentive smile. The one when you weren't _exactly_ sure whether or not you should be smiling but hey, might as well.

There was the forced smile. The one that you wore to make everybody think you were okay when really you weren't. It didn't always work for Yang, and sometimes people could tell when she was putting on a brave face.

And then, there was the genuine smile, the one that spread across your face at something truly amazing or wonderful.

Yang wore that one, wider and more alive than it had ever been in years.

The blonde giggled. _Giggled_ , as she stared at the tiny flame in the palm of her hands. She had to use both, as if to hold it, even as it hovered slightly above.

There was a childlike glee in her eyes that probably shouldn't have been in a girl broaching her adult years, especially one with experiences like hers.

 _But she was doing magic!_

Was that the right term, 'Doing magic'?

No, it didn't matter. She was doing it!

Sure the fire was a tiny thing but it was there! She could feel the warmth from it. It was real!

And it was hers. She was doing something that should be impossible. It was something from a fairy tale.

Magic!

And it wasn't just this. But the build-up from everything that had happened recently.

Sure, there were some pretty bad things,; losing your limbs was bad, and the doc had warned her that things might get bad once she re-entered society and saw other people.

Was that why she was able to cope with it right now? Because the only person she could talk to was missing a limb as well? Was there a kinship?

Maybe, but probably not, it was overshadowed by everything else.

 _She wasn't crazy_.

She wasn't ill, seeing things and jumping at noises that weren't there. She was _special_. Not only that, but she was going to be able to control it she wouldn't have to take those pills anymore, and when she got out of here, she could live her life more.

Hel, when she got out of here, even more was going to change

She had a lead! She had something that could help her understand what happened to Ruby. She'd be able to confront her. About her eyes and about Ozpin!

Things would change!

But right now, she could just enjoy the fact that she could use magic.

That she was a magi!

Yang shook her head. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. All she had to do was focus on using her new limbs. Everything else could come after.

Speaking of which, at that moment Merlot bustled into the room with a box of paper and bits and bobs.

When he saw her he smiled. "Right then, good to see you up. I think it's about time we make sure everything is in working order. Hold this for me will you?"

He put the box down before turning and leaving the room again. The brawler could only snicker as the old man came back in with a dumbbell. He held it in two hands, and it looked like he was about to keel over with the weight of it. he wasn't even really carrying it, it was more like he rolled it along the floor.

"This," he gasped. "Weights exactly three hundred kilograms. From what I could compare it to it's essentially the same weight as a large vending machine… don't ask me how I know that. We'll be testing how you compared to beforehand. First things first, what could you lift before without the use of your semblance?"

Yang thought back for a moment. "There was about a week back when my team and me were helping set up for a dance. I had to carry around these big speakers. It wasn't _too_ much of a big deal, but I was using both hands and plenty of muscle. Bending the knees and all that you know?"

"I see." He muttered, a clipboard and pen had come seemingly out of nowhere as she scribbled down information. "This weight should be about that weights, or perhaps slightly more. We'll try with your more familiar had first."

He motioned to it. "Pick it up for a bit and see how it goes."

Yang did as she was told, bending over to grasp it. She wasn't entirely sure what the point of this was. How was she supposed to lift it with just one-

Her thoughts were cut off as her hand rose up again with the weight.

She blinked.

She stared.

That had been _far_ too easy.

It was still heavy sure, but the fact she could do it one handed was… wow.

"Very good." The doctor nodded, scribbling down more words. "It says you're at least twice as strong. Give or take a little in either direction."

She gave him a confused look. "Care to share why exactly?"

"Don't you remember? Your new heart made changes to your physiology. You mentioned you felt stronger earlier."

"W-well yeah, but I thought it was just going to be a little extra boost, not double!"

"Well… it is, so there you have it. "Try it with the other hand now and let's see."

She did so, swapping the weight over. Her obsidian arm dropped slightly as she grasped the weight firmly.

Merlot hummed. "I see… try pouring a little bit more magic into it. not a lot, just enough to balance it out."

She did so.

The flowers bloomed and power trickled through.

After a moment, she held it at the same height she'd held it in the other hand.

"Good. Noe, if this practice we'll be making sure you can efficiently and easily control the flow of magic in your arm. You'll work with that weight as I go get another one, and your task is to make sure that both hands work at the exact same speed. That way we can balance your strength on both sides."

"What about my legs?"

"Hm? Oh they should be fine. Walking and running should be enough practice for things like that. If you plan on fighting with them it will be a bit different, but I'm no fighter so I won't be much help there I'm afraid.

"Nah that's fine, don't worry about it." she said. There was no point getting upset about something like that, especially when she could just train some other time. He'd already done plenty.

"I'll go get it then. I won't be long!"

Yang hummed a quiet tune as he left, enjoying the simple action on working out her arms. This was good. The faster she recovered the faster she could get out of here and back to beacon.

She paused for a second as a thought cross her mind.

What had happened to the rest of her team?

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby let out a laboured groan as she shifted a large piece of rubble from their path. Beside her, Weiss did the same with her summoned arm, which was a little unfair in the reapers point of few, because technically she wasn't lifting it herself.

"I think this is it." The youngest of them said after a second to catch her breath. "What do you think Blake?"

The Faunus stepped past her and peered into the cavernous hole. There were still a few more to go through but I this was it…

"It looks like it." she nodded after a moment. "It goes deeper than the rest, and I think I can feel some air coming out of it."

"An opening?" Ruby asked.

"More like another cave system. If Yang was taken anywhere, it was down there."

"Alright." the reaper said. She turned to them both. "Then we're going down. There's probably still Grimm down there so stay close and be careful. We need to be as fast as we can. It's late, and transport will be here in the morning. It'll be better if we can find Yang before that."

"Right." They both nodded.

Ruby took a breath.

"Okay. Blake, you're up front. Lead us to the deepest parts with your vision. Weiss, you take up the back and if things get violent light the Grimm up with any dust you have left."

"That might not be a lot." She mumbled. Ruby winced, the older girl was right. They were running out of dust, they had been since yesterday. Even Crescent Rose was running on empty. Still, they would have to make do with what they had.

She didn't say anything else and turned into the cave.

It was actually a lot darker than the others. Ruby couldn't even make out her hands in front of her face. She could see Blake though. Her bright yellow eyes were one of the only things she _could_ see, but it was enough for now.

It was quiet too, as in, their heels clicked on the ground kind of quiet.

Ruby wasn't exactly sure how long they walked, or even if they were making any real progress, but a few minutes later there was a feeling in her stomach that told her they were going deeper.

That was good right? It meant they were going the right way.

Still… there was something wrong. Ruby couldn't quite place it, but it felt like they were walking into something… dangerous. A shiver crept up her spine and she held Crescent Rose higher up her chest.

Do you feel that?" Weiss whispered. It made Ruby shiver again, her breath was warm on the bag of her neck, and with her sight practically gone, she felt a lot more sensitive. She swallowed past it.

"Yeah. It feels like something watching us right?"

"I don't see anything." Blake whispered. "But yes, I feel it too. Could it be a Grimm?"

Weiss scoffed. "A Grim that hasn't attacked us yet?"

"It could be a smart Grimm." The Faunus argued back, eyes flicking back for a split second as she responded before turning back. "It doesn't matter. If it's not attacking that means we can keep moving. Heads up by the way, the breeze is getting stronger."

The reaper and heiress felt it a moment later. It wasn't cold like they expected, but it was unsettling all the same.

"What is that?!" Weiss hissed. "It feels… dead."

It wasn't the right word for it, by Ruby thought it was close enough.

The wind washed over them, but instead of some kind of temperature change or feeling it felt still stagnated. It was as if there was something on the air.

It was…

It was like the air before a thunderstorm.

Where hot and cold met and left you with a sticky feeling.

What was making that?

The question was about to be answered as Blake suddenly stopped and held out a hand.

She gave a sharp gasp and Ruby peered over her shoulder.

Her eyes had adjusted to the dark just enough to see that there was no more ground ahead of them, and all that was left was a black void.

Weiss saw it too and gave a frustrated huff. "Is it a dead end then?"

Ruby shook her head. No, it couldn't be… Weiss, do you have any fire dust crystals left?"

"A few," the heiress answered. "Their fail safes should I run out of refined dust. Why?"

The reaper motioned to the edge.

"Activate one and throw it off the side. Try to get it as far as you can. Hopefully we'll be able to see the other side… maybe the bottom too if we're lucky."

Weiss nodded, trusting her leader's idea and reaching for one of the red crystals. Her aura seeped into it and she lobbed it as far as she could.

It gave off a red light, which quickly brightened as it burst into flames, illumination the giant cavern.

Ruby kept her eyes peeled as it did so, but gasped at what she saw.

"Well that answers that," Blake hummed. "So… there other sides just a cave wall… the only way is down. Looks like Grimm came out of this place a while ago judging by those scratches."

No, it was more than that.

The hole was too big. It was as big as the sinkhole on the surface bit the cavern walls were too smooth to be natural. They'd been worn away, carved out even by giant blades.

Or scales.

The scratches on the walls we far too big, far too deep to be Grimm, and way, way too warped. It was as if someone had melted the stones gashes with molten slag.

Dragons.

This place was the home of dragons, lots of dragons if the number of scratches was any guess.

But dragons were supposed to be dead. There wasn't supposed to be any lefts.

If they still lived down there, if they were still asleep.

Then one misstep could mean death.

They'd be burned alive before they even knew what was happening.

This was bad. It wasn't even that the Dragons were a threat, even if they were, but if there were _dead_ dragons down there left untouched for centuries then there would be hordes of Grimm. And they'd be old. They'd be strong. The smart thing to do would be to turn back, it was far too dangerous to continue.

But if Yang was down there…

"What do you guy's thing?" She asked, desperate for their thoughts. If either of them could give her a reason why going down there was stupid then-

"What are we waiting for?" Weiss said. "The only way is down, let's hurry."

"I agree," Blake nodded. "I don't like the feel of this place. Let's get in and out as fast as possible."

She sighed. "Alright. Let's-"

Ruby was cut off by a ferocious howl that echoed up from the hole. All eyes shot down, to the figure moving towards them at terrifying speed.

It was a Beowolf.

It was big.

And it was glowing with green dust spouting from its body.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"And… stop!" Merlot shouted, pressing down on his stopwatch.

Yang relaxed, standing on both feet again. "So who was it?"

The old man looked down at the watch.

"Very good. You managed to balance for ten minutes on each foot, though, surprisingly I think you balanced perfectly on your right more than your left. I suppose we can put that down to there being no muscle strain."

The blonde grinned. "I'm tellin' ya dom I'm in fightin' form and rarin to go."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes yes, well allow me to be the villain a little more and keep you here until I'm absolutely sure you won't have any problems.

"Yeah," Yang said. "I was wondering about that actually. How am I supposed to get out of here? I mean, I kinda feel down here. It's not like I know my way around mountain Glenn."

"Oh don't worry about that." He dismissed. There's a tunnel outside that's a straight shot to the surface. You shouldn't find too much trouble walking in a straight line right?"

She missed his head by a good few feet as she punched lazily. "har, har. Well, I'm telling ya it'll be nice to see the sun again. When's the last time you were in Vale by the way, I feel like I need to buy you somethin' for all you've done for me."

He blinked.

"Hm? Oh, I won't be going with you. My place is here."

The smile slipped from her face.

"What? Come on, why not? You can't seriously be thinking about staying here!"

He shook his head. "I've been here for the last two decades Yang… and it's not like I'd be welcome back in Vale. Forgetting about Ozpin, I have a bad history with the council itself. No, I'm better off here. And besides, I have all my research to look after, and there's still so much I have to find. I doubt I've even scratched the surface of it all."

Yang stared at him for a second before sighing sadly.

"I guess you're right." She said glumly. "I guess this will be a goodbye when all this stuff his done then."

He rolled his eyes and smiled again. "Oh come now Yang. It's not like I'll disappear. You can always come visit."

She laughed. "Sure, Mountain Glenn's practically a holiday resort. Perfect place to visit a friend."

"Indeed it is," he agreed with a laugh of his own. "Just be sure to call first, I'll throw you a party and everything."

"Strawberry cake please!"

He made to say something else, but was cut off by the loud and sudden sound of an alarm blaring.

The two of them looked up and Yang winced at the noise.

"What's going on?"

Merlots face didn't reveal much other than trepidation. "I don't know. The alarms around this place have been tripped. Somethings coming. I'll go inspect it. Stay here, understand?"

"But what if it's dangerous?" she argued. "I can help!"

He shot her a smile. "I've managed the Grimm well enough during my time here. They won't even get close enough with all the traps I have in place. Don't worry."

He turned away and as Yang watched him go, she didn't see the way his face changed. It wasn't a literal thing, but all the same, it was like a completely different person.

"I'll make sure to destroy any threat to this place."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby rolled under a beowolf's claws as it sailed above her, but had to bring up Crescent Rose as it spun in the air and dived at her from behind.

What _were_ these things? Dust growing out of Grimm should be impossible. She'd never heard of it before in her entire life. These things were stronger, faster and smarter than any Grimm she'd dealt with on her way down here and the fact that they were hulking masses of muscle.

It didn't even look like a wolf! Its face was too wide and its eyes weren't red!

The only upside was that it gave off a bright green light.

She dived to the side as it swiped at her, the shockwave rippling from the dust being just as much of a threat as its claws and fangs.

She grit her teeth and pressed down on Crescent Rose' mechanism, shifting it into its war-scythe form.

She slashed at its knee and wretched back violently. It sliced through flesh and muscle and spurted a familiar black liquid. The mutant beowolf roared in pain and anger as it tried to hit her again.

She fired one, rocketing herself to the side and spinning. Semblance activated she dashed forward with momentum to back her up, stabbing into its back and seeing the curved blade burst out of its chest..

She gasped then, when the Grimm ignored it, and grabbed her hood.

She lost her grip on Crescent Rose and was slammed into the ground in front of it. Her head thumped painfully as it grabbed her again and enveloped her in a bear hug.

She choked out an agonised gasp as she felt her bones creak.

It was smart. It wasn't letting her use her speed, it was keeping her in one place. She was going to be crushed.

She felt blood pool in her mouth as she bit down on her tongue.

Her ears rang loudly as she struggled.

This was too fast, she needed to get out of this. How could she save Yang if she was dead?

It was as if something clicked. Or grew in the next moment. Her semblance still active, she wasn't thinking about speed. She was thinking about not being trapped, about moving.

Ruby burst into a flurry of rose petals and phased through the beowolf's arms. She stumbled back at the sudden realisation she was free, and the second next she grasped her chance as the Grimm stared at the space she had just occupied with confusion.

She turned back into rose petals, and felt an odd sensation as she spilt, washing over the creature and appearing behind it. Her hands grasp the shaft of her weapon and she twisted, pulling the trigger in the next instant.

The blade pointed upwards, the recoil shot it further.

Crescent rose sliced open its skull and she rolled away.

There was a beat where she watched it fall, and looked down at her own hands.

That had been… new.

She turned just in time to see Weiss and Blake together. They'd managed to dispatch the other mutant Grimm together, but both looked like it had taken a lot out of them.

They stared at her with wide eyes, and Ruby realised she could only see it because the Dust that had been connected to the Grimm hadn't dissolved along with the rest of it.

"Are you to okay?" she asked.

They nodded.

"We're fine," Weiss gasped. "What on Remnant was that? What kind of Grimm were they?"

"I don't know," she admitted honestly. "But two of them was nearly enough to kill us… we need to be careful."

"We're going deeper?"

"No point stopping now, we already jumped." They had. When those mutant Grimm had appeared they'd fallen down. It was only thanks to Weiss' glyphs that they hadn't went splat when they reached the bottom. The fight had continued from there, deeper into the wide tunnel the stood in now. "Besides, something tells me those Grimm weren't there for no reason. We're getting close to something."

"She's right," Blake agreed. "I think… I think something happened to those Grimm. Something we need to look into."

"Wasn't finding Yang the objective?"

"It is, but I have a feeling we're on the right path… and if that means she's somewhere down this way…"

Weiss bit the inside of her cheek. "No, if we find yang we have to leave, end of story. We can't-"

"Guys?" Ruby called from a good distance down the tunnel. "I think we found what we're looking for."

The monochrome pair shared a look and made their way over to her. When they saw what she was talking about the stopped.

"No way." Weiss whispered.

The stood on the edge of a drop, though it wasn't a big one. Ahead of them was a massive cavern. The last one. There were no more opening s to look for.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway, because their attention was on the massive metal facility built into the stone.

It was huge!

"What is this place?" Blake asked no one in particular, but Ruby had a fairly good idea.

Merlot.

This is where Merlot was located.

"Come on." She said. "Grab that green dust from the Grimm bodies and follow me in."

"We're going in there?" the Faunus asked

"If Yang's anywhere, it'll be in there. Come on, we don't have any time to waste."

" _That you don't little girl._ "

They froze as a voice rag out through speakers.

" _Isn't this a surprise"_ The voice laughed nastily _._ " _I was enjoying a nice and peaceful day, when three intruders come bumbling into my home like fools. I was angry at first, but then I thought of the great opportunity! I can test my Grimm on you!"_

"His Grimm?" Blake asked aloud, but Ruby clenched her teeth.

"We need to hurry. Now!"

The command was a simple one, but Weiss and Blake sprang into action because of it, leaping into the cave and towards the metal structure.

Weiss took aim, and a barrage of ice and fire shot towards on side of it. She blew a hole in the wall, and the three of them tumbled in. the décor left something to be desired for sure; it was grey and empty, pipes running along the ceiling and a strange hexagonal pattern on the floor. They could hear the alarm now, blaring in their ears.

"He knew we were here!" Blake hissed.

" _Indeed I did,_ " he agreed through the speaker again. _"Now, the Grimm will take a while to get here, fortunately I have plenty of machines to keep you occupied until their ready, try not to die right away will you?"_

There was a beep as it cut off and right as it did doors on either side of the hallway opened up and red and white human-shaped androids flooded in by the dozens. They formed a line before them and drew weaponry.

Gods be damned halberds and miniguns.

Ruby shared a look with Weiss and Blake, who looked back with a mix of uncertainty and determination.

The reaper raised Crescent Rose behind her.

They were going to fight their way through.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Hey!" Yang yelled as she beat on the door. "What's going on out there old man?!"

There was no answer, but the blonde had an idea already. She'd hear Merlot on the speaker, sounding completely different than anything else she'd heard from him. He'd been talking to someone. Three intruders, it wasn't hard to figure out who it was.

They'd come for her! They'd really come for her!

And now they were in danger. Whatever the old man was doing was bad for them. She needed to get out there, explain to him who they were. She could straighten out this whole thing.

But she couldn't do that right now. The laboratory was in lockdown, with her inside. She was stuck in here and the metal doors weren't budging.

She growled and stomped back and forth. Her eyes fell to her clothes and then back down to the hospital gown she was wearing. Right, first things first. It took her a minute and she was still missing her right boot, but she got dressed and equipped Ember Celica onto her wrists. She raised her right arm, watching as her fingers wiggled. The gauntlet fit in its closed form, now it was just a test to see if it would work with the full thing.

But before that.

"Sorry doc." She said, before cocking back her right arm and driving her fist into the door.

It folded like wet paper and flew off its hinges.

She ran out the door, but stopped a few seconds later as she rounded a corner and came face to face with a Grimm.

A massive, hulking, green Grimm. It saw her and roared.

Yang grinned and raised her fists. It was time to test out just how much stronger she was.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Sparks flew and metal was sheered as Ruby tore through the machine men. They hit hard, but in terms of speed and durability they were a cake walk. They had no aura.

They weren't Penny, that was for sure.

There was just so many of them. They rushed through the hallways, but it felt like no matter how many of them they trashed three more took their place.

Ruby and Blake did their best to deflect any bullets that came their way, while Weiss used what was left of her dust to form barriers and control the battlefield. The heiress was relying even more on her summoned arm now, having it cleave through waved of androids as they got close.

Ruby panted heavily, rose petals swirling around her as she phased through the machines. Beside her, Blake did a better job at holding herself together, and loaded another clip.

They came to a fork. Moments later, and blasted a group of robots against the wall and shattered them. They had a moment of respite to look around.

"Which way?" Weiss gasped, head flipping left and right.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Maybe we can-"

She was cut off by the sound off Grimm from the left corridor and the three of them tensed as the sound got closer. There was more than one, maybe two or three. Ruby raised Crescent Rose and prepared to lunged fowar-

She nearly tripped when a Grimm was send rocketing into the wall. It crumpled against the metal and dropped. The three of them stared as the sound of gunshots echoed through and the pained cries of a Beowolf could be heard. One appeared around the corner, desperately trying to crawl away from its attacker.

A black fist crushed its head.

Yang grinned down as it dissolved beneath her and when she looked up it took a second for her to notice them. Her red eyes blinked back to lilac and she grinned again.

"Oh! Hey guys, I thought it was you!"

They stood there frozen in shock, and it was the heiress who managed to speak first.

"Y-Yang?" she breathed. "You're alive!"

The blonde laughed as she walked over to them. "Was there any doubt?"

"Yes!" Weiss shrieked. "We saw you lose your arm! What happened to-" she cut herself off as her eyes locked onto Yang's right side. A pitch black arm and leg resided where skin should be."

"Yang…" Blake whispered in horror.

The brawler followed their looks and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "It's a long story, don't worry about it."

She stopped and her eyes moved to Ruby. There was a beat where neither of them said anything.

Ruby _couldn't_ say anything. Her eyes were locked onto her arm and leg with unrestrained agony written on her face. She tried to speak but she _couldn't force the words out_!

Yang had a complicated look on her face but she settled for a nod. "I'm fine."

"I-I-"

The reaper was cut off once again as a speaker sounded through the halls.

" _Well isn't this a nice little display?"_ came a nasty sneering voice _"it's almost enough to make me shed tears, but don't worry, I'll be full of happiness when my Grimm slaughter you."_

"Come on doc," yang called out, surprising her team. "Tell me what's going on here. We can talk about this."

" _Oh there will be plenty of talking when you're dead. I'll listen to your echoes when you-"_

He stopped, and when his voice was heard again it was lighter and far more panicked.

" _Down the hallway on the fourth left, go forward until the second right. There's a door there. It's where I'm held up. Hurry Yang, you need to sto-"_

There was static and the sound of something crashing before the line went dead.

Yang was already moving.

Weiss reached out to grab her shoulder. "Wait a minute yang where are you going?"

She gave the Schnee an incredulous look "Where do you think? I need to go talk to Merlot."

Ruby flinched. "You know Merlot?"

"Yeah, how do you know him?"

"…"

Yang realised the silence was telling. She really was a part of this.

"It doesn't matter if you know him right now!" Weiss cut in. "it's not safe here, we need to leave."

"We can't just go," Blake argued. "You say those Grimm Weiss, we can't let them get out of here. We need to shut them down."

She made to say something else, but all arguing stopped when the corridor on the right –the one they'd not checked – made a loud hissing noise.

Or more specifically, something _coming_ from the corridor made a loud hissing noise.

Multiple hissing noised.

The static came back.

" _I'd like to introduce you to a little pet project of mine."_ "Merlot laughed. " _I doubt the fools in Beacon ever taught you about them, but you're about to see what happens when a controller Grimm has a chance to meet four King Taijitus. With my own personal touch."_

Just then, a Taijitus head slithered around the corner. It spotted them, froze, before seven more followed suit.

Each, and every one of them sprouted green dust.

A terrified, hysterical part of Ruby's mind recognise what was before her in an instant, the image from the Odyssium seared there many years ago:

Yamata no Orochi.

They _ran._

There was no decision to run. No transition from standing there in shock to fleeing.

They were just _moving_.

And it _tore_ up the hallway behind them.

"What the fuck is that thing?! Yang yelled over the top of sheared metal and hissing.

"Just run!" Ruby yelled back. She dived to the side in time to dodge a head that snapped at her. It's long fans dripped with venom and as it hit the ground where she'd just been standing the metal floor dissolved.

Before it too was crushed under the giant Grimm.

"We can't get to that man if this thing's chasing us!" Weiss cried. "Ruby, you and Yang go, Blake and I will lead it away."

"Are you crazy?" the reaper hissed. "You can't fight that thing!"

"We don't plan too. We'll lead it far enough away and circle around. Then we need to find a way out of here."

"I know the way." Yang said, keeping her back straight as she ran. "Met us where the Doc said and we'll get out of here together."

"Right. Are you ready for this Blake?"

In response the Faunus aimed Gambol Shroud back and fired off two shots towards its head. She sped up.

The Heiress shot Blake a look as she passed her.

"Well that answers that. Go!"

A moment later they broke off the path, and there was a crash as the Orochi veered after them.

Ruby didn't like it but it was too late to say anything about it. they needed to make this fast. Whatever she was going to do they needed to do it now.

The doorway was there as they rounded the next few corners, and they burst through it as brazenly as they could.

And stopped when they say the Gun pointed at them.

"Well isn't this interesting?" Merlot laughed in a none too friendly way. "Silver eyes… my this _is_ a momentous occasion. The perfect samples. Tell me girl, do you know if your eyes are any good after their removed? No? Well we'll find out."

Ruby tensed, ready to dodge when Yang suddenly stepped in front of her.

" _Yang!"_ she hissed.

Her sister ignored her in favour of focusing on the man.

"Hey come on Doc," She grinned feebly. "This isn't you. Why don't you just put down the gun and we can talk about this okay?"

The man laughed again, this time with far more hysterics.

"I'm sorry; the good doctor merlot isn't here right now. All that's let right now is-

"Hyde." They stooped, and the doctor and the brawler turned to Ruby, who stared at the old man with dark eyes. Her knuckles were white as she gripped Crescent Rose.

"Very good!" the newly introduced Hyde congratulated. "Someone studies I see. Oh yes, I'm what you would call hide, but as it were dear old resident Jekyll decided not to give me a name. Alas, here I am."

Yang swallowed. "I don't understand what's going on."

He scoffed. "Of course you don't you stupid girl. You were never meant to play a part. All you were supposed to be was a new test subject."

The blonde took a step back as if she'd been slapped. Hyde let out a loud sigh, as if disappointed.

"Merlot was always soft though. He wanted to _help_ you. As if doing something like that would make up for the fall of Mountain Glenn he caused all those years ago."

He tilted his head. "Well… I suppose I cased it, but he hadn't been prepared to stop me so who's splitting hairs?"

He shrugged and aimed the gun a little higher. "Now, I'm not the best shot, but I know that from this distance I can hit and your aura won't do much against these. It's strange really, silver bullets have an odd tendency to critical damage even to those with aura… and yet they can't punch through even the weakest of steel. Let's see what it does to your head then shall we?"

It was instantaneous.

Ruby wasn't even aware of her body reacting. One minute she was standing there with Crescent Rose, the net she'd wedged her weapon onto the wall.

With Hyde impaled upon it.

Ruby pulled the trigger.

There was a bang and a shower of blood as Yang screamed.

The doctor couldn't move as the bullet carved through him.

She fired again.

And again.

And again.

And again

 _And again_

" _Stop!"_ Yang screamed.

Ruby blinked. What was she talking about? Stop what? She blinked again as traces of silver left her vision. What was she…?

The girl gasped and let go of the scythe, stumbling back and falling. She stared at what she'd just done, and the blood that had splattered onto her hands.

"Ah…" Merlot said, looking down at the weapon as if just realising it was there. "That's uncomfortable."

He slumped to the floor, and Crescent Rose clattered beside him.

"No!" Yang cried, skid to a stop beside him and pressed on the wound. "No, no, no you can't be serious. Not now. That was… that was too fast. It wasn't supposed to go like this."

The old man laughed as a familiar red liquid leaked from his lips. "You forget," he rasped. "I'm no trained fighter like any of you. I don't even have my aura unlocked… for all the good that would have done me. Listen to me… that… that wasn't me. I promise you that wasn't me. That thing… it says some very cruel things, I would know, I've been stuck with him my whole life."

Yang choked something out. Or tried to. She barely made a noise.

"Ah!" he whispered. "This feels… unsatisfying…" he put a hand to Yang's cheek, forcing her eyes on his.

"Yang… please, take this." He said, handing her a small blue rectangle. A flash drive.

"It has all of my research on it. Every single little thing I've ever discovered and recorded is on there… there's so much more to do. Continue my research… please Yang."

She nodded even as tears ran down her face.

She shouldn't be crying. She'd only known the man for a few days.

But…

"I promise. Now come on, we can get you out of here too."

"No," he rasped. "You can't. I set this entire base up to monitor my heartbeat. Once that stops, this place will detonate exactly a minute later. This research cannot fall into the wrong hands. Not Ozpins and not Salem's. You have the last copy. You need to leave, now."

"No I-"

"Go dear." He laughed. "My old heart won't last much longer than this. Oh, and one more thing."

He reached up behind her head and pulled her in. Yag didn't even notice how his blood stained her hair. Her brought her ear down and whispered into it.

"Don't hate your sister for this… it is how she was born… it was how she was raised. She'll need you now, I can feel it."

"I-"

He cut her off and pushed her away. The look in his eyes was clear. He was running out of time.

Yang cursed and turned away. Her eyes fell to Ruby, who was still frozen in shock. She was staring down at her bloodied hands. She looked lost.

"Ruby we have to go."

Her sister looked up at her. "Yang I… I'm so-" her voice cracked and the brawler growled to herself.

"There's no time. We can talk about it later, and you can tell me _everything_ but we have to go _now_!"

The shouting seemed to kick Ruby's mind into gear. She scrambled for Crescent Rose, hands shaking as she lifted the murder weapon and followed as Yang ran out the door.

When they stumbled out of the room they could feel the facility shake.

"Shit," Yang breathed. "Where the hel are they?"

Suddenly, there was silence, a stillness as everything just stopped.

And then the walls were obliterated.

The sisters leapt back as a Taijitu's head crashed through and snapped at them. Three more followed, and beneath them Weiss and Blake scrambled away from it and away from even more heads that followed behind them in an attempt to devour them.

"Go, go, go!" Weiss cried with more ferocity she had ever shown.

They didn't need to be told twice. Yang fired off a shot at one of the Grimm's heads, the projectiles blasting against its face and blinding it for a moment.

Which might have been effective…

If it didn't have seven other heads.

"That won't work!" Blake yelled. "Our blades don't even cut its skin!"

"We just need to get out of here," Ruby said as rose petals filled the chamber. "Which way is it Yang?"

The brawler pointed ahead as she ran. "Just keep going. We're almost there and then it's a straight shot to the surfa-"

An alarm blared.

It was different from before.

" _Attention. Overseer deceased. Self-detonation commencing in:_

" _5…"_

" _4…"_

" _3…"_

" _2…"_

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake was lagging behind.

It became clear to the Faunus that it was so, when her teammates started putting distance between themselves and the Grimm, while she barely managed to keep out of its range.

It was her own fault.

Weiss hadn't noticed, but when they'd led it away her arm had grazed one of the fangs. Her semblance had been the only reason she hadn't been impaled but even so there was a gash on her left arm.

And whatever was in its venom it was slowing her down.

Her ears were ringing, thought that could have been from the alarms.

Her eyes were itching, but that could have been from a lack of sleep.

Her breaths were laboured, but that could have been from how much she was pushing herself.

Or it could all be because she'd been poisoned.

She could see it up ahead though; a doorway at the end that so clearly spoke of an exit, of a way out of here.

Her teammates were almost there, she could make it too!

The ground shook, not from the Grimm this time, but the explosions that were ripping apart the base behind them.

They were getting closer.

Closer by the second.

The door opened as Ruby and Yang managed to reach it first.

"It's some kind of platform!" her leader yelled.

"Hurry up and get on!"

She was already fiddling with the buttons and the revving of some kind of machinery powering up. Weiss was next, leaping onto the platform as it moved.

Blake was just a split second behind.

It was enough for the Orochi to clip her.

Blake cried out as she was batted to the side and someone screamed her name.

Their voices disappeared as the platform shot away.

No!

She clawed away and dived as a massive snakehead lashed out at her and would have crushed her if she'd occupied that last spot for even a moment longer.

She had to get out of here.

The tunnel was still open, she could run it if she had to!

The explosion behind her proved that wrong, sending Blake to the ground again.

It all happened so fast.

The flames washed over the Grimm and it hissed in pain.

It's body shielding her from it.

The Faunus watched in a mixture of shock and awe as it writhed, but only for a second.

Before the next bomb went off.

Right in front of her.

Blake screamed agony as she tried to turn away from it.

And felt her left side obliterated from the explosion.

Her body crumpled as the ceiling fell above her.

She didn't even get to look back at freedom one more time, or raise her head towards the light.

Because at that moment.

The girl, the Faunus, and the young huntress-

Blake Belladonna

Died.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **I'd like to think I have some backbone under all of my sadism, so that's where I'll leave it. Yup, on a cliffhanger like that.**

 **Isn't it fun?**

 **Like I promised, you guys' got another chapter the day after, though I added a little bit more on before releasing it. I wonder if anyone will notice where exactly.**

 **So! Yang's up at at it, Ruby's killed a man and Blake's been blown to pieces!**

 **Joyous occasions all around.**

 **Next week will be the end of the Mountain Glenn arc, so stay tuned for that, and as always if you liked it be sure to Follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	28. Death under the mountain: Part 6

**So my weekend is occupied by some family stuff, nothing serious but it means I don't know if I'll have access to my computer or not. So just to be safe I'm posting this early. Don't worry, it won't effect my schedule for next week... or maybe you don't care I dunno.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

...

* * *

What… was _it_?

It was a being. It moved but didn't have a body.

It breathed but didn't have lungs.

It thought but its mind had no physical form

It was… dead. No, more than that. It was past death and onto something else entirely.

It didn't have a consciousness, and yet it was aware of what it needed to do.

It needed a form to survive.

The black ichor _rolled_ across the floor with liquid tendrils. It wasn't sure what it was doing. Not it's task or gaols but it knew it was going the right way.

It needed to survive.

It sensed something. Something physical, unlike the soulless metal or chaotic magic given form like it had.

No… this one was flesh.

Or it had been.

The ichor stopped just shy of the body and though it had no eyes it could see.

Whatever it had been before, in life or in death it had understood language. The oldest vestiges of this new form of communication the living used.

The thing in front of it was female. It was a Faunus.

It was dead. Wait….

That wasn't quite right.

It was _dying_.

The females left side had been obliterated. It had no arm, no leg, no hip, a part of its abonnement was missing, its face was charred and one of its non-human ears had been blown off. It was missing an eye too. The soft thing had been squashed and leaked out of her head in a pool of juice and blood.

It was dead… but it wasn't.

The ichor's form brushed against the dead skin. It felt within it.

The creature's heart had stopped. It was dead. But the mind was still clinging on.

It _would_ die. There was no doubt of it, but the thing called a brain still had a few moments left before it expired.

Hmm…. That would not do.

The ichor did not know its purpose. It did not know what it was or even if it had a consciousness, a sentience to speak of. Did that question prove it one way or another?

Regardless. It needed to survive.

And in order for that to happen. _She needed to survive._

The Ichor rolled over the Faunas' body, melding, mixing, taking form and wrapping around what was missing.

Organs were destroyed. They needed to be replaced.

Limbs were gone. It needed those. It needed new ones.

Its face was damaged. It could fix that, and use it when needs be.

They became one.

And Blake Belladonna breathed new life.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Adam?" Blake called as she saw the teens form sitting by the river. "There you are," she huffed. "I've been looking all over for you."

The red-haired teen rolled his eyes. "I told you I'd be downstream, you were too absorbed in those books of yours to listen."

The younger girl flushed but didn't comment. Instead, she walked over and sat down beside him on the grass bank.

Mistral was warm this time of year, the sun was out and flowers were blooming all around.

"You shouldn't be out here on your own," the feline Faunus reprimanded. "You could run into some humans who aren't nice to us."

It was true. They, along with a few hundred other Faunus had set up camp near one of the trading frontier towns for the last week. It was a great place to travel from and purchase supplies for so many people, but it also meant people with all sorts off… opinions came through.

"So the adult's being chastised by the twelve-year-old now. I must be getting soft."

Her ears flattened against her head and she poked his arm.

"You're sixteen, not an adult."

"I am too!" he cried back childishly, proving her point. He seemed to realise that and looked away with a bashful face. Blake giggled.

"No you're not. Dad says so."

Adam didn't answer for a moment. But when he did.

"Right… your dad… him."

She looked at him. "Adam? What is it?"

The teen let out a huff and crossed his legs. "It's nothing… just thinking about tomorrow."

"Oh…"

Tomorrow. It was the coronation of Sienna Khan. The day her father would officially step down as high leader and hand the position over to his second in command.

Blake knew Sienna. Not closely exactly, but the few times she'd visited her home she'd worked closely with her mom and dad, and had been polite to her. She'd even ruffled her hair once.

"Do you not like Sienna?" Blake asked curiously.

The bull Faunus looked at the younger girl in surprise. "What? No that's not it, of course not. I was just thinking how much things are going to change."

She blinked. "Will they?"

"Of course." He nodded. "With a new leader things are going to be changing all over Mistral… maybe even in all four kingdoms. We might finally be able to make some ground."

"But… we're doing that already." Blake countered. "Dad says we've been making strides towards equality."

Adam shook his head sadly. "He's wrong. Things haven't changed in ages. They might have at the start but people stopped caring when the White Fang stopped doing stuff. Sienna's going to change that. She's strong."

"Yeah… I guess." Blake murmured. She wasn't sure what Adam meant though. "But what about the progress we have made? The kingdoms don't hunt us down anymore."

"They still don't accept us as citizens." He scowled. "The only one that considers it is Vale, and that's because they ended slavery in the first place."

"What about Vacuo?"

Adam gave her a raised eyebrow and she blushed.

Right… what was she thinking? It was Vacuo. It wasn't like there were any people to protect them even if they were considered criminals and beasts.

"Humans still treat us like dirt." He went on; tossing a stone into the river and watching it skip. "They hate us. Maybe they'll always hate us and peace isn't doing anything to change that. It makes us look weak. It makes us easier targets when we don't fight back."

He threw another stone, this time harder. "Sienna can change that. She can teach us all strength."

Blake gasped as she noticed the red line on his arm.

"Adam!" she cried, and the older boy flinched as she grasped his arm. She pulled up his sleeve and stared at the long red gash that ran up his forearm.

"When I went into the town next to the peace rally camp… a group of humans say me buying food and dragged me into an alley between two houses."

He didn't need to say any more. It was obvious by this wound that they'd hurt him.

Badly.

Adam hadn't just come to the river to think. He'd come here to wash away the blood.

"Humans are vile creatures. They're cruel and they hate us for no reason. They're worse than the Grimm."

Blake couldn't help but agree.

"Sienna will make the White Fang strong. Tomorrow, things are going to change." he looked down at his hands, and then off to the distance. "I'll get stronger. I'll make the change we need. That out people need."

Blake watched him in awe. He said it with such confidence, such… belief. It made her believe it too.

"I'll get stronger with you." She said.

Adam looked at her in surprise, but that surprise slowly morphed into a smile and he nodded. His red eyes twinkling.

"Alright. We'll change things together. I promise."

 _Blake woke up with a gasp._

 _She coughed and wretched as searing pain wracked through her body._

 _What was going on? Where was she?_

 _It was… it was too much" it felt like her insides were writhing, bleeding and bursting. Sher body curled up into a ball as she gripped her stomach. She was…_

 _Blake gasped, the pain didn't stop but a single moment passed where her mind focused onto the impossibility before her._

 _She had both arms._

 _Wait, why was that a surprise in the first place?_

 _And then the pain returned, stronger than before._

 _A strangled noise left her throat. She didn't know what was going on. It was too dark, even with her eyes she couldn't see._

 _All that offered her salvation was a tiny pinprick of light in the distance._

 _What was that? A way out of wherever she was?_

 _The rolling in her stomach stopped, and as the immediate pain dissipated Blake managed to push herself onto her hands and knees._

 _She couldn't stand. Her body was too weak for that._

 _Her aura was gone and she felt like she was going to collapse at any moment._

 _But she could crawl._

 _So she did._

Blake couldn't keep the grin off her face as she ran around the corner. Adam and a few others were behind her, probably with the same feeling of adrenaline coursing through their veins. Sirens sounded in the distance. They'd be here soon but al they'd find was a burnt down shop.

When it was a safe enough distance away, Blake ducked into an alleyway and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Most of the others ran on, laughing and cheering as they did but Adam stopped beside her, leaning against the opposite wall as he caught his breath too.

"That was great!" the cat Faunus grinned. "Did you see that? I bet he'll think twice about refusing to serve Faunus now!"

The older boy laughed. "Yeah. That was a close one though. Good thinking on lighting up the back room by the way."

She nodded, smile still on her face. "We did a good job right?" she was asking just so he could say it, but she knew, of course it was a good job. The owner had been a known racist in the town for a while. The police might not like it, but they couldn't really do anything.

Sure, this town wasn't in the frontier, so it had a little more space, enough that vehicles became practical, but its people looking to uphold the 'law' weren't enough to be a worry.

The shop owner had become a target just last week, when he made a scene of kicking a family of Faunus out of his store just looking to buy food.

Sienna hadn't taken notice of it publicly, but one of her men had set out the task. Blake and Adam had volunteered along with a group of others.

"It was a good job," he agreed. "You did great Blake."

She preened as he reached over to ruffle her head proudly. Praise from him always felt good.

There was a flapping of wings as a figure landed from above.

It was a young man with dirty brown hair and bat wings. He panted heavily but the smile on his face was clear.

"They're headed the other way. They won't find us while we leave." He laughed. "That was amazing. Whose idea was the fire?"

"It was Blake's." Adam said, nodding to her.

The bat Faunus blinked as he took in her face, and her age. She was only thirteen now, but she was as active as the other members. She'd even started learning to fight. But… she was still young.

"Wait… _the_ Blake belladonna? I've heard of you." He extended a hand and smiled. "My name is Yuma. It's an honour to meet you."

"L-likewise." She said, blushing slightly at the attention.

He smiled again. "The rest of us are heading back to camp. I'll see you there."

With that he flapped his wings and flew away in the direction of the camp.

"Hmph…" Adam grunted.

Blake looked at him. "What is it?"

"…Nothing. Let's get back okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

 _Her fingers clawed at the ground, digging into dirt and rubble as she dragged herself along. Her body was stiff, her lungs burned and her vision was hazy. There was some kind of shadow on her right. What was it?_

 _Oh, it was a Grimm. It was… a giant snakehead. Lots of them. T looked dead but it was still there. Weren't Grimm supposed to dissolve when they died? Or was it? She couldn't see clearly in the darkness, but it looked like there were holes in it, getting bigger and bigger by the second._

 _It was dead then._

 _What had killed it? Had… had it been her?_

 _It didn't matter, the light was closer now, she had to keep going._

Adam sat on a crate outside his tent; Blake was at his side, wiping the blood off his cheek quietly. Today had been… not a bad day, but it hadn't been peaceful either.

She didn't like it here, in Atlas. They'd come here a few weeks ago with a big group of several hundred Faunus and in all that time she still wasn't used to the cold. It was biting and irritating and made it hard to sleep.

There'd been a demonstration. It was one of their more peaceful ones admittedly but nothing like they'd been three years ago.

Faunus had marched through the streets of Atlas' capital, demanding the SDC relinquish its practices and shut down the mines. It was supposed to be a power play, to show they meant business.

It… hadn't gone the way they'd thought it would.

They hadn't gotten anyone to close down any mines, but they'd stayed firm and the people had known they demanded respect.

Then, a mob of humans had formed and it had turned violent.

It had been hectic, complete madness that Blake even trained as she was at fifteen had been reduced to wild swinging.

Adam had busted his cheek on someone's knuckle. The worst part was that he couldn't tell her if they had been friend or foe caught up in the melee.

Still, it had gotten them in the news. People were hearing them. Soon after the Atlas military had come to break it up. People on both sides had been arrested, but they wouldn't be kept long. The paperwork would be too messy. At least General Ironwood hadn't ordered his men and machines to start opening fire on them. She didn't know his public image well, only that he'd been in charge of the military for the last eight or so years, and the headmaster of atlas' huntsman academy even longer.

All in all, today had been a victory, even if it meant she was cleaning Adam up again.

The two of them sat there quietly outside his tent, the older boy, breaching his adult years gazed into the fire.

Which was when something curious happened.

A Faunus sat down next to them. Blake didn't recognise him, but the man seemed to know them, and nodded with respect visible in his eyes.

Another one did the same. And then another one, and another one. Yuma, someone they regularly chatted with on their travels, sat down as well.

They kept coming, drawn next to them. They'd seen them. They'd seen _Adam_ at the front of the demonstration standing before the humans proudly, bravely.

He took them all in, head moving from left to right.

"I wonder," he said at least. "If we should celebrate the night with something to drink."

Cheers echoed through the camp as night fell.

It didn't take long for Faunus to get drunk, so laughing, others singing, and many crowded around Adam as he spoke about Sienna and her cause, about what he thought of it, and more. They listened, enraptured by his words.

Blake sat off to the side a little. She wasn't one for big crowds or drinking, but even so, she took small sips from a beer she'd been handed. Or was it a beer at all? It tasted like honey.

"E-excuse me?" a voice murmured at her side.

"Speak up in a louder voice than that kid, she won't hear you otherwise."

The cat Faunus turned to the voices to see two people watching her.

One was an older woman, who looked to be about in their twenties, maybe late twenties. She had blue hair and veins of the same colour along most of her body.

The other was much younger. Actually… she looked about Blake's age, but a bit smaller. She had dark skin and freckles. She looked… like a human. Where were her Faunus traits?

She didn't ask that aloud of course. Hello," she said instead. "Do you need something?"

The older one grinned. "We just wanted to come over and introduce ourselves. My name's Trifa, you probably don't know me well, I work in the White Fang security division. I've heard about you."

Ah, of course they had. She was a Belladonna after all.

"And this is Ilia," the spider went on. "She's one of the new recruits we just picked up from Atlas. She wanted to meet you so I brought her over."

The girl in question looked nervous. Blake wasn't the best with social formalities, so she went with a nod instead. "It's nice to meet you." She said politely.

"A-ah! Yeah, you too." Ilia agreed. "S-so… you're Blake belladonna?"

She suppressed a sigh. Were even new recruits recognising her that easily now?"

"I am."

"That's… that's good."

There was a pause.

"Was there… anything you wanted to ask me?"

The smaller girl flushed in embarrassment."

"Yes… yes there is. You're… father used to lead the White Fang didn't he?"

"He did."

"But he did it a different way."

"He did."

"But you believe this is the right way?"

Of course. What kind of question was that? They were making progress, progress they'd never been able to make before."

"I do."

Ilia's smile was bright.

"That's good," she said. "I always believed the White Fang was good, no matter what everybody else said."

There wasn't much to it after that.

Somehow, the two of them got off to a great start, and talked the rest of the night. Trifa went off to join in on the drinking, listening to Adam, and Blake just enjoyed the company of someone her own age, someone who was fighting for the same cause as her.

 _There it was, right there. Just a little bit farther. Blake's hands latched onto rocks and rubble in her way, pushing and heaving them aside_

 _It got closer now, she could reach out, crossing the threshold she could feel the wind on her face. There were people shouting, the sound of an engine._

 _Her eyes, momentarily blinded by the light saw red eyes…_

Red eyes, red from being bloodied, by old scars, scars that to this day still looked ragged and awful. Scars that had never fully healed. They were a mark, forever displaying the pain he'd been through. She loved him despite them, and right now, she could feel boring into the back of her.

Blake gasped, on her hands and knees, she could feel the sweat trickled of her body as her lungs burned, her insides rolled as Adam gripped at her back, her thighs. He kneeled behind her, above her.

She gasped again as he rocked his hips and she did in return.

He grunted, she moaned, he pushed, she pulled, she cried out, he roared.

They kept going, noise belting out of dam's tent as a sixteen-year-old Blake spent the night with her lover.

Their bodies interlocking, voices as one.

He leaned into her ear and whispered promises, claims.

" _You're mine."_ He told her.

She was his. She agreed with him wholeheartedly. She was his and he was hers. Right? They were together now, for the years they had known each other they spark had been there, and now it roared to life.

Here he was, claiming her, taking her, thriving in his victory, his rise. He'd been appointed leader of the Vale sector by the high leader and it empowered him. They had celebrated with the others, sang, drank, and when the others had fallen asleep they had gone to bed together.

Blake was high on it all. On all of this. Her parents had hated it, hated her choices, she knew it. They could hate her, she didn't care. She had Adam, Adam had her. They would bring the Faunus new hope together like they had always wished for.

Adam gripped her hair, pulling back with a groan and as he finished, so did she.

She gasped for breath and turned to gaze into his red eyes. They bore into hers with lust.

 _Red eyes bore into hers with concern. Warm arms gripped her tight as others moved to her. She couldn't make them out. All that mattered where those eyes, those eyes that flickered back and forth between lilac and the colour she was oh so familiar with._

" _Blake," the voice gasped. "Oh my god Blake."_

 _She closed her eyes. She felt safe with them_

Blake stared at her partner from across the platform. The train separating in two. He stared back, a mixture of anger and disbelief on his face.

"Blake?" Adam called out.

She stepped back, putting as much distance as she could between them without taking her eyes away from him.

His shock became rage.

" _ **Blake!**_ _"_

She felt horrified as she stared at the monster he had become.

* * *

…

…

* * *

A few hours later, a bullhead had arrived back at Beacon, with the four members of team RWBY rushed to the infirmary for treatment. They were in the worst shape some of the nurses there had ever seen. They were bruised, bleeding, some had prosthetic limbs and some were… something else. They were drained and not a single one of them managed to stay conscious when they got back.

It was so bad; the head nurse had even barred the headmaster from seeing them until she was sure they were stable.

News travelled fast in Beacon, and soon every student knew of their return. The council was informed of the plot of the White Fang, and eventually, within hours, the city of Vale knew that a team of Huntresses had prevented tragedy.

That night, the four members of team RWBY slept in hospital beds.

And a raven landed on the windowsill.

There was a flutter of wings and a burst of magic, before hands opened the window with a shunt.

Raven Branwen stepped cautiously into the room. Behind a white mask her eyes scanned the surrounding for danger, but she already had her target in mind.

Yang's bed was the closest to the window, while her half-sisters was just opposite. There were the other two girls but… Raven wasn't interested in them, despite some interesting things she could see.

She moved to stand beside her daughters beside and took off her mask she set it on the nightstand and let her wild hair fall past her shoulders.

Her wine coloured eyes roamed over her Yang's form but locked onto her hand lying on the sheets. The one she'd lost.

Raven took her daughter's hand in her own and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Her daughter didn't answer but that was fine, she hadn't expected her to. The bandit queen let out a breath and pulled over one of the chairs at the side. She sat down beside Yang's ben and kept a lot of her hand.

How long had it been since she'd seen her daughter up close like this? How long since she'd snuck back to patch and simply enjoyed the sight of her daughter.

It was pathetic, she knew that, having to take pleasure in the minuscule time she got to see her, when her daughter didn't even realise she was there.

It was pathetic, and it was her life.

Raven let out a quiet, bitter laugh. "Woe is the Nevermore queen who cannot return to her nest."

"Hm, that was a good one… pity it came from you."

Raven went ramrod straight as Ozpin's voice came from the other side of the room.

She stood up faster than a blur and her hand shot to her side, hovering over her sword.

The headmaster of Beacon looked unfazed by the threat. She knew better though.

He was without his familiar mug of coffee.

He looked bored, his face blank and his posture relaxed. But…

"I thought our last meeting made it clear you were not to return to Vale ever again." He said.

Raven glared at him hatefully. "I would have gladly decided to never be anywhere near you Ozpin. That changed though when my daughter was accepted into your school."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is it even right to call her your daughter? I was under the impression you had to be a mother for that."

Her hands twitched closer to her sword.

He had moved just a bit closer and her blood boiled at the action. He was out of her draw distance yes, but even worse was that he'd put Yang's bed between them.

"But then again," he went on. "I suppose you never even thought of that. After all, abandoning your child was just one of your sins."

"I didn't _abandon_ _her!_ " Raven snarled, teeth bared in frothing rage. "We had a deal Ozpin. You were meant to protect all of them! That was the point and you went back on it!"

He was it, the reason she'd not been able to stay around and raise her daughter, the one thing she scared about the most she'd had to leave to protect.

She was to be his spearhead, his fighter to go on the most dangerous of missions against the enemy, on the ones that would be considered suicide by anyone else, even a full team of seasoned Huntsman… but to do that, she had to leave her family behind.

"I don't see how that's true." He shrugged. "Neither your husband or brother went on missions such as yours."

Her teeth actually creaked. "But _Summer did_. And you sent her to her death! She was a part of that deal and you let her die. Then you tried to kill me!"

"And you should have been a loyal soldier and died like you were supposed to." He mused. "It is a wonder… the infection is usually fatal. Only one on seven ever survive their first transformation, I suppose I can congratulate you and your _vaunted_ strength for that… but I can see it even now with those gnashing teeth. What is it like to be a monstrous beast by the way?"

Her hand fell to her hilt.

The wizard's eyes flickered to it for just a second, but he didn't look worried.

"Are you going to fight me?" he asked. "You know you are no match for me, even with that disgusting sickness making you stronger."

She grinned savagely at him. He still didn't know about the spring maiden then… Good.

"I don't know… I'm a lot stronger than the last time we met. I think I could kill you."

"I doubt it, but even then, if you somehow had the strength to beat me, you would make it out of this city alive."

"It would really inconvenience you though wouldn't it?" Raven bit back.

Ozpins lips thinned into a line. "Perhaps." He gaze moved to the side. "I wonder how dear miss rose would deal with my death."

"I doubt she would be too upset."

"Oh? I am one of her biggest protectors. My death would lead to a chance for the enemy to reach her."

"I'd protect her," Raven smirked victoriously. "Besides, if my hearing is right she's not too enthusiastic about you anymore."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Yes… perhaps that needs to be fixed."

Raven eyes widened and she snarled dangerously. "If you touch Summer's girl I'll end you! I'll kill you here and track down every one of your new bodies for as long as I live."

Ozpin watched her carefully, the Bandits entire body was tense as she prepared for a fight.

He hummed and turned away from her.

"I expect you to be gone in five minutes. Any more and I'll hunt you down like the beast you are. Curious though I think, how you're still near your daughter… I was made aware that you had a rule about saving people only once." He didn't wait for her response, as biting as would be. The warning was clear. Do not get involved with his affairs again or there would be consequences.

Her hands balled into fists. Damn his consequences.

But as her anger left her and her body slumped she knew he'd scored a point against her.

She looked down at Yang's form sadly.

She was supposed to have saved her, stopped her not just from dying but losing her arm and leg. She'd been too slow, only seeing it as it was happening.

She'd been late, back in Mistral just minutes before recovering from...

That night had been a full moon.

She'd just returned to her human form.

And it had cost her daughter.

Her hands grasped Yang's again.

It had been her fault, as a mother she had failed.

"I won't let it happen again." She promised. "I'll protect you with everything I have."

Yang didn't answer, not that she expected her too.

Raven sighed and shut her eyes. What _had_ she been expecting?

The Huntress shook her head and stood up. She moved over to Ruby. A small, remorseful smile formed on her face.

For all she regretted leaving Yang… she was glad Summer had been there. Not just for Tai, but for Yang. Her partner had looked after her daughter when she couldn't… and she'd given her a sister.

It was funny now looking at her. She was nearly the spitting image of her best friend. Not quite, but so very, very close.

"Look after her," she begged. "You'll need each other for the things to come that I won't be able to stop. For escaping his reach. And when you do, I'll be there."

Ruby didn't sir as Raven brushed a strand of hair that had fallen, out of her eyes.

There was nothing more she could say. It was time to go before things took a turn for the worse. She moved back to the nightstand and picked up her helmet. She paused just for a moment and steeled herself.

She leaned down and laid a kiss on Yang's forehead and whispered her promise again into her ear.

With that, she opened the window and transformed into the bird she was named for. A portal appeared a second later and then it was gone,

Raven along with it.

* * *

…

…

* * *

When Yang woke up it was because the sun had poured through the window. It was annoying, forcing her to either shield her eyes, which meant moving, or opening her eyes and again, moving out of the way. The drowsiness lasted for a few moments until she picked option one and covered her face with her arm.

Only to feel the cool touch of obsidian on her face.

Oh! That was right wasn't it! They'd made it back. Somehow they'd all made it back from that hel.

And it was hel. To call it a mission was like calling a bump in the road a mountain. How they had all managed to survive that was nothing short of a miracle.

Or... had they all survived?

…Blake. Her partner had somehow managed to claw her way to them as the people on the bullheads including Qrow had attempted to drag them away. It was a good thing they'd fought for as long as they did or they might have left her behind. Her uncle was probably still nursing that bruise she given on his jaw.

Still… when she'd see Blake, she knew something was different. They'd _all_ seen it.

Where was Blake?

Yang opened her eyes and tried to sit up, she was in the infirmary, so Blake was probably….

She stopped and took in the sight before her.

Ruby sat on a chair next to her bed, head down as she lay on Yang's lap.

How long had she been there? Looking to her side, Weiss and Blake were still in their beds, recovering from their own wounds and exhaustion.

But Ruby? She was here.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly, at least to her. It was barely seven, the sun was still rising. Could she just hold off on her questioning for a while? She knew this was going to be an interrogation, Ruby wasn't going to be forthcoming with answers. No, there was no point in avoiding it. They needed to do this now. She tapped Ruby's shoulder gently. Honestly, she expected that maybe she'd have to give a rough shove to wake her, but her sister startled awake almost instantly.

Her bleary eyes shoot left to right before landing on yang.

The blonde grinned nervously. "Hey Ru-"

She was cut off when a body crashed into her chest and arms wrapped around her desperately.

" _Yang!_ " Her little sister sobbed into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

"h-hey!" Yang gasped, startled. "Cool it for a sec sis it's fine."

"It's _not_ fine!" she hissed, trying her best to keep her voice low so that the others wouldn't wake. It wouldn't be much of a difference from what she was doing already, head buried in her big sister's shoulder.

"It's my fault all of this happened. If From the very start it was my fault because I'm such a coward. Because I'm a-a crappy sister who screwed everything up!"

"Whoa Ru… you don't need to… I mean it's not that bad."

"But it is." She said, finally lifting herself off Yang and wiping her nose with her sleeve. She was sat on Yang's bed now, eyes teary.

"I should have listened to them. I should have told you the truth at the beginning and to hel what they wanted but I didn't and- and this happened!" she wretched, pointing to her arm.

Yang shook her head. "No hey, this is my doing. I saved you remember? If anything it's the Grimm's fault."

" _But it wasn't!"_ She argued. "If you'd known things might have been different, we might have done things differently and… and all of this wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have killed-"

She cut herself off, voice catching in her throat. Yang looked away. There was a heavy feeling in her chest. It… wasn't loss. Not in the way she'd felt before. Merlot had been… a friend. Not a loved one or family member but he'd been someone she'd trusted in that short stretch of time but then at the end he'd been so different.

And now he was dead.

Yang's eyes widened. Oh God, Ruby had killed him!

She wrapped her arms around her little sister, trying to comfort her as best she could. It was the last straw. Ruby broke, tears spilling freely as she sobbed into her chest, trying her hardest to keep them quiet. Yang clenched her eyes shut. She shouldn't have to keep her cries quiet. She should be letting it all out, screaming and shouting about what she'd done.

But with whatever was going on she couldn't.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before eventually Ruby stopped. She did her best to dry her tears but her eyes were still puffy.

But it looked like she'd come to a decision.

"I'll tell you the truth." She promised. And Yang froze. "I'll… I'll tell you everything you want to know, everything I can."

Yang stared at her. Was she serious?

"T-that's great!" she smiled. "So where do we start?"

Ruby bit her lip.

"I… I can't say it here."

The blondes face crinkled in confusion.

"What?"

"I can tell you here," she said again. "Not with… not with Ozpin so close." Ruby had an idea.

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow's when summer starts right? While we're away from beacon and back at Patch I'll tell you."

Patch… home.

Yang hadn't realised home much she missed that until she thought about it.

"So…" Yang said after a moment. "Summer vacation starts... heh, guess time flies when you're killing monsters and fighting for your life."

Ruby managed to crack a smile. "You have no idea." She paused as two people groaned.

"Come on," the leader of team RWBY said. "They'll need us when they wake up properly."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ozpin's eyes ran over the latest and biggest headline of today's' paper. Qrow sat across from him, drinking as usual, although… it might also be the fact that he was nursing his pride. There _was_ a purple mark on his chin. He could have probably healed it with his aura if he wanted to.

He was keeping it intentionally then.

How curious.

"Beacon Huntresses save Vale." Ozpin read aloud. "It seems the media can snatch up a story quick. I'm not even sure how the news broke."

"It's good for you isn't it?" the grizzled huntsman asked. "Puts you in the good book of the whole city. Even those old bastards on the council are praising you."

Indeed they were, though probably not out of the kindness of their hearts. They were career politicians; they needed to be seen congratulating him for what his students have done in order to look good. Still, it meant plenty of good things for him. He'd even managed to wrestle more control over the Vytal festival from James. Not that the man had been too happy about it.

He'd taken it in stride however and even now the General had let him know that he was on his way to congratulate team RWBY personally.

"It is," he said at last. "Though perhaps it wasn't the best idea to let the media know that they were saved from a massive terrorist attack by four young girls barely halfway through their first year."

Wasn't _that_ something? Oh yes it would look good on the surface, after all if one team of first years could stop a terrorist attack it looked good for all Huntsman.

However it puts the other Huntsman and Huntresses under scrutiny. If they don't measure up and achieve the same success is there something wrong with them?

Annoying.

But not unacceptable. It still put the staff of Beacon in a good light. The only other bother was that the media was looking for the girls for an interview. As they were now that would not be beneficial for anyone.

Which reminded him.

"Lisa lavender approached me personally to request an interview."

"Which one's she?"

"A reporter for VNN," he supplied. "But above that she had a 'reputation' as a sort of rouge. She's a sensationalist and a crisis reporter, involved in nearly every major story that's ever happened in Vale in the last ten years."

"Think she'll spin us in a positive light?"

Ozpin rolled his eyes. "That will depend on the girls. One thing she's known for is her 'reporters' integrity'. The council despise her but she's such a big figure they can't touch her, at least so without causing a scandal."

Qrow grunted. "So what, did you agree to it?"

"I did." He nodded. "Though Miss Lavender suggested postponing the interview for a month or two until they have everything sorted out."

"Wouldn't the story have died down by then?"

"I doubt it. In fact it will be just a week before the Vital Festival begins. If anything it'll be revitalised and the city will want to see the infamous team that saved the city before they compete. Besides, she's worked with Huntsman before, she especially knows the situation with younger ones and how wired they'll be for a long period of time."

"I guess that makes sense." Qrow relented, leaning back in his chair. "So what's next?"

The headmaster hummed. "Next… Miss Rose will be returning home for the summer."

His spy stiffed in his seat.

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. You'll have quite the endeavour on your hands, once you come face-to-face with Tai."

Qrow's head fell into his hands. "I'm dead. I'm so dead, he's going to tear my arms off and beat me with them."

"Mr Xiao-Long is not _that_ violent, though perhaps you should expect a bruise to match the one you have already"

He groaned and stood up. "I guess I should prepare myself for that then, go over the cover story in case he asks me anything." He turned to leave.

"One more thing Qrow."

He stopped. "Yeah?"

Ozpin's face turned grave.

"I… fear that Ruby is experiencing some issues."

"Issues? Well I guess he would after that shit-show of a mission. I mean hel, some licenced Huntsmen don't even deal with that stuff and what did they get? A branch of radical terrorist, a cave-in, an army of robots and mutant Grimm. It's amazing the pipsqueak was able to complete the other mission and take down Merlot."

"That is not what I meant."

Qrow stopped and turned to look at the headmaster fully, far more serious.

Ozpin sighed. "I fear she's showing signs of becoming another Raven."

Instantly the atmosphere became tense, and the hip flash Qrow held contorted under his grip.

It was no secret to the wizard that Qrow hated his sister. For leaving when they needed her most, even if he didn't know the reason. He wouldn't tell him of course, as sad as it may be he needed an eye that was loyal, and he doubted he would be if he'd sent Qrow off to kill her, even as the disgusting creature she'd become.

It went deeper of course. Raven had been absent at the time of Summers death, a time when any team should be together to mourn.

They didn't keep in contact, and news that his sister had returned to the tribe had made things even worse. Ozpin hadn't told him of Raven's visit last night. That would just complicate matters.

"She's not like _her_." Qrow growled.

"Perhaps not yet," he conceded. "But she is showing signs. Defiance, mistrust and disobeying orders should she feel her way is right. These may not look bad Qrow, but it was how Raven started off."

"…"

The headmaster sighed.

"Watch her, and report back to me what you see yourself."

"…Fine." He grunted. "Is that it?"

"For now… yes. Hopefully there will be some peace in the recent future."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby, Weiss and Yang sat around Blake's bed, sharing worried looks. The Faunus had woken up just a few minutes ago. There had been gasping until she'd realised where she was, then relief. She'd been confused though and asked to look in a mirror.

They'd been hesitant but didn't have any idea what they could do to make it better.

That had been then. Blake hadn't said anything since. She just _stared_ into her lap, staring at her hands.

On was normal, bandaged and healing but normal.

The other…

Wasn't human.

The head of the infirmary came in a minute or so later. She had pink eyes, light skin and short peach coloured hair. She saw them sitting around the Faunus' bed and sighed.

"Alright," she said. "I suppose this is going to be a very important conversation… first of all, I'll introduce myself. My name is Professor Peach. You may have heard of me, I've recently returned from Vacuo. My staff have told me about you. The four of you seem to visit here regularly."

They didn't answer. She sighed again.

"There isn't much I can do to sugar coat your conditions, so instead I'll go with the clinic option…"

They nodded. Or, three of them did, Blake still looked a little lost, but she at least looked the professor's way to show she was listening.

Peach looked at the clipboard in her hand. "On a surface level the right side of your body is mostly undamaged other than some minor bruising and first degree burns. Your aura will take care of that within the next day or so. In the centre, as in where your body meets… well, you have slightly severer burns ranking in the higher tier of second degree. Again, aura should heal that over time but it might take weeks. Then…"

She licked her lips as she thought of the right words to say.

"We… we're not sure what it is." She admitted honestly.

"What?" Weiss snapped. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I was getting to that Miss Schnee if you would let me."

The heiress' teeth clicked shut and she looked away. Ruby might have offered sympathy in a different situation, but here that might just make it worse.

The professor closed her eyes for a moment.

"We ran some test while you were asleep, yes ethics and all that but considering the situation it was bypassed. Your entire left side looks like it has developed new bone marrow. We looked further and found that one of your lungs, a kidney, parts of both your large and small intestine and a small part of your stomach have all been… replaced. We found out why moments later when there were traces under the edges of this… thing of third-degree burns. Your entire left side was destroyed."

"My eye."

"Sorry?"

"My eye," Blake mumbled. "It was… it was destroyed too. I remember feeling it burst."

Weiss face went a shade of green, then white. Yang and Ruby looked uncomfortable at the idea as well, but with what they'd gone through, one more recently than the other they were at least able to hold it back.

"I see." Peach said, marking the new information down. "That is surprising then, considering that it looks just like your other one but if that's the case then… well, we have an appearance description if you would like to hear it. it might not be pleasant."

Blake shook her head. "I've looked at myself in the mirror just a few minutes ago… go ahead."

Peach took a breath. "Very well, keep in mind this is from an entirely medical point of view."

"Patient Blake Belladonna has sustained the most extensive and unique injuries in comparison to the three other members of the Huntress team RWBY. From extensive visuals and tests it had been concluded that her left side was destroyed in an explosion that resulted in first, second and third-degree burns. Medically, Blake belladonna was dead for three minutes. However, what we are witnessing is something unprecedented in medical history. From what we can tell, her left side has been completely reformed by a Grimm-like substance as shown by blood tests from both arms. one was positive for Faunus, while the other was Grimm and quickly dissipated once it separated from the body."

"Moreover, the appearance of patient Belladonna has been altered significantly from this specimen. Her arm and leg, running up to a section of her hip, waist, abdomen, outer layer of torso, shoulder, neck, chin, and single Faunus are made up – not covered by – a black substance applicable and comparable to Grimm biomass. Other qualities are noticeable, such as on the face: the patients face looks mostly normal apart from black, branching lines that spread up her cheek. They do not reach her eye and seem to have no negative effect at the current moment. They have been liked to that of veins but do not follow the proper path of said veins."

How the patient's body functions is as of yet unknown, as the Grimm blood, which is poisonous to both Humans and Faunus, seems to either not affect her body, or not interact at all. We have not been able to test it so far. It was reported to actually recede slightly while nurses were finishing their analysis'. Finally there seems to be an atheistic quality that we do not know the nature of yet but again can be likened to the Grimm. A black mist emanates from the surface of her new skin like that of a Grimm, however disappears not even a millimetre away. Things that seem at this point to not be affected physically are her heart, brain and all reproductive organs both internally and externally as well as the aforementioned tight side of her body. At this time, that is all we have been able to gather on the Patient. Other tests may need to be taken if needed."

Peach lowered the clipboard. "Well… that's it."

Blake looked down, her ears, one Faunus one… Grimm, looking slightly more wild but similar in size and shape, flattened against her head.

"So…" she said at least. "I'm… some sort of… Grimm hybrid?"

Yang made to speak. It wasn't true, in fact, she knew what it really was, if she could assure her partner then-

She was stopped by a sharp squeeze from Ruby and when she looked over she saw wide, warning eyes boring back at her.

The message was clear and though she didn't know why, Yang didn't reveal the truth.

That it was a Wraith, not a Grimm.

"We aren't sure honestly. But considering that you have your consciousness and you're not attacking us madly I think it's safe to say you're not Grimm."

Peach frowned. "Unfortunately we can't keep you longer. All of you are scheduled to be dismissed from the ward today. We simply can't keep you longer. I will however make sure that before you leave all four of you are healthy… it's… obvious things are different from when you left on your mission but… I'll do my best to make it more comfortable. Speaking of which, each of you will be subscribed a number of painkillers to last you over the two months. They will be delivered to whatever residence you choose to stay at over the summer. I would suggest taking them."

"Do _we_ really need them?" Weiss asked legitimately. She had a right to be though. Would it really be right to waste them if they didn't need them?

The older woman raised an eyebrow. "You, Miss Schnee suffer from three broken ribs, a sprained wrist and cracked shoulder blade. It's only thanks to your aura that those will gradually heal. You simply don't feel it because your body is working to repair it. That pain _will_ arrive soon though, so yes, you do need to take them."

She rounded on their leader. "And before you say anything you are worse. I don't know what it was you were fighting but it cracked sixteen ribs, not to mention the physical strain that you out on yourself from excessive use of your speed semblance your body may be physiologically adapted to it, but that speed still isn't healthy for long periods of time."

There was a knock on the door.

Peach checked the clock on the wall.

"Well… he is here right on time. Annoying. It seems our time is up for now. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me. We you return I'll be taken some of your classes, now topics for you to learn and all that.

With her part said professor Peach made her way over to the door, opening it and stepping outside, right as a new figure entered.

General Ironwood.

They straightened up. They looked nervous.

Weiss because of his relations to her family.

And Blake _especially_. She was a former White Fang terrorist after all.

He stopped at the foot of the bed and straightened up himself, nodding to them quickly. His eyes flickered to Ruby for a moment longer as a way of sending a kind message of recognition.

"Hello," he said. "You probably already know who I am, but for formalities sake I am General James Ironwood. I'd also ask you to drop those formalities and call me James, or just Ironwood if that's too personal for you."

They shared looks but didn't say anything. The man took that as permission to continue.

"First of all I'd like to extend my thanks on behalf of security here in Vale and in turn its people. I know it's your job, but thanks to the effort of you four girls you were able to prevent a tragedy, perhaps the greatest Vale would have ever seen."

"It's as you said sir," Ruby murmured. "We were just doing your job."

"You went beyond what was expected if you. I read the reports; stopping the White Fang was one thing, but uncovering a Grimm research centre and preventing potential widespread damage all over is another. Then there was the far more important note that your team refused to leave without all four of you accounted for, even going back into danger to rescue each other."

Ruby looked surprised, she'd been expected a far different stance on that.

"You're… not upset about it? For endangering the mission?"

"Missions are either successful or not. Losing a Huntress, a member of your own team that you have spent so much time with and will continue to spend time with is so much more. I would question a man's morals that would put the mission before his comrade. I did the same thing years ago." His hand fell to his right arm. "I risked my life and saved my friend it cost me a part of my body, a very large part but I do not regret it even now. You shouldn't either."

Yang managed a smile. "Thanks sir. That… actually means a lot." Her smile became a grin. "So uh, you got prosthetics?"

Instead of saying anything, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing the slick metal underneath.

They even Blake couldn't help but gasp at it, not in horror but appreciation this time. This man felt no shame in, and even if it was slightly uncomfortable to look at his attitude towards it helped put them at ease.

"This is the same for half my body. From my collar bone to my feet." He smiled, and although it was a strange one, they could tell it was sincere. "I know it's not the same, but if it's any consolation for both of you Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao-Long, I _do_ have a similar experience."

The blonde laughed at that. "Yeah, I guess so."

He hummed before blinked. "Ah yes, there was one more thing. Now this may be a little forward of me but I have something for each of you." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out for small boxes and handed one to each of them. They shared another look and opened them in unison.

Weiss gasped at what she saw.

Ironwood explained for them

"There would usually be far more ceremony, but I think you would appreciate rest more, so right now I'm presenting each of you with the Atlesian metal of gallantry. A symbol of bravery among the highest rank I can give to a member of my military. Since I am a headmaster and you are Huntresses that means I can also gift it to each of you. I hope you wear it with pride wherever you go."

He looked over them. "However, I can understand if because of this mission in particular or your own history if you choose not to wear it."

His eyes fell to Blake and she noticed.

She swallowed. "You know?"

"I do," he nodded. "Though given your circumstances it is understandable, perhaps even acceptable. If I have been appointed earlier, or had been more firm in my decisions when I was younger I may have prevented the need. I might have been able to help more." He shook his head, "That is in the past now however, as are your action with the White Fang. You are a huntress and a hero of this city; I hope you will be recognised as one. However, as I said I understand if you don't accept it."

The Faunus looked down at the little piece of metal:

It was a small, round, silver circle with the symbol of Atlas imprinted on it and wings behind it. it hung on a white ribbon.

"No," she said with a soft smile. "This is proof of how far I've come since then, proof that I can be even better. I'll wear it with pride sir."

He smiled again. "I'm glad. Now, I know this is sudden but I need to go. the Vytal Festival may be months away but the paperwork starts now."

He took a step back and proudly saluted to them.

Without even thinking, they did the same, his presence so great that Blake even forgot out her condition for a moment.

With that he left, and the four of them were left with the medals. Yang laughed

"I guess it's a pretty expensive gift." she said. Weiss tilted her head.

"Why do you say that?"

The blonde grinned wider. "Because it cost an arm and a leg."

"Oh my god Yang!"

"Too soon."

"What is wrong with you?!"

Despite their horrified cries, they all fell into laughter seconds later.

When they calmed down Yang leaned back and sighed. "That was… a thing."

"So, what happens to you guys over the summer then?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss hummed.

"Well what are you gonna do? Do you have any plans?"

It was actually a serious question. Beacons dorms weren't open to students over the holidays since the staff wouldn't be there.

The heiress frowned. "I suppose I will be returning to Atlas… Father… my father most likely will not be there most of the time, can enjoy a… peaceful time at least." She smiled, though it was feeble. "I'm sure the servants can keep me company."

Blake winced at her own situation.

"I've saved up enough lien, I can probably rent out an apartment in Vale. As long as I can avoid-" she failed to hide the ways her eyes flickered back down to her body. "Showing my face properly to landlords I can manage for the summer."

"That's…." Yang trailed off. She really didn't know what to say to that. She hadn't even thought about the situation they would be in. of course Blake would have nowhere else to go, Beacon had been a desperate escape for her and Weiss never even spoke about her family apart from her sister, it probably wasn't the best for her there either. Yang didn't like the thought of them having to deal with that for two months after what they'd just gone through, all the while her and Ruby would be on Patch having a way better time.

Wait…

"You know," she began. "If… I mean if you don't have anything else I don't know, planned, you could always stay with us."

They turned to look at her in shock but she pushed through. "I mean, home's pretty big, we got plenty of room and Patch is always great around this time of year."

She grinned at the heiress. "Have you ever seen a proper summer Weiss-cream? I bet it's always snowing up in Atlas."

"W-well yes!" she squeaked, still taken aback by the suggestion. "But I don't think… I mean my father-"

"Can't force you to come back. I mean, if you want you can always say you're staying on Patch to study some more. My dad's a teacher at Signal, he could probably verify that if you asked. I could do it if you wanted to, I mean, if you want to stay with us."

Weiss was silent for a good minute and when she spoke it was in a quiet voice. "Would it really be okay?"

"Yeah!" The brawler nodded, and then she turned to Blake. "You too! You can stay and just chill out there. It's like, the most peaceful island you can think of."

Blake didn't look so sure. "But looking like this… I don't think I should-"

"Nuh-uh you're coming." Yang suddenly ordered. "You just said you have nowhere to go right now and I'm your partner, it would be my job to help you even if I didn't have a place to stay myself."

She grinned in a nervous sort of humour. "Besides, you're my girlfriend now, you kinda have to do the whole meeting my dad thing anyway."

She managed to hold a serious face for a moment, but with the excitement and earnestness in Yang's voice Blake couldn't help but laugh at that and shook her head exasperatedly.

Ruby giggled. "Alright then, I guess we've all come to a decision, so as team leader I proclaim our next mission to be 'Team RWBY's summer vacation!" she put her hand out. "Who's with me?!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but when Yang and Blake put their hands on top she caved and did the same. The four girls smiled at each other. Things had been rough for the last while, but it felt like now they had a little time to make things better.

"Wait," Ruby blinked. "You two are dating?"

* * *

...

* * *

 **There we go, the last part of Death under the mountain and the Mountain Glenn arc. This also means it's the end of the volume 2 material. You all know what's coming next.**

 **But before that, it's time to unwind, with a part of RWBY we never actually got to see.**

 **Now, I'll be honest, when I first watched Vol 3 I was really confused. Why were they saying the Vytal festival was taking place in the Fall. Why were they saying autumn was the end of the school year?**

 **I'd forgotten since it took lace in a fantasy world that it was using the american school system. Here in Ireland I school year starts in september and ends in may/june depending on where you are.**

 **So that threw me through a loop for a while. I felt a little silly when I realised what was going on.**

 **Anyway, Summer vacation. seems apt considering a lot of you will probably be experiencing that one way or another now. I always wondered what happened to Weiss and Blake during this time or even Ren and Nora. We see Ruby at the beginning of Vol 3 on patch so I thin it's a safe bet she spent her time at home but the others? Who knows.**

 **Well we're about to find out. Thing of the next part like the transitional chapter with Cardin last time. More team bonding, more relaxation and plenty of build up for new plot threads.**

 **On the side if this chapter now, Blake's not dead. Yay! Most people already figured that out but a few were actually worried. I** _did_ **give plenty of hints that this would happen, both her 'death' and what happened here. Also Raven finally makes her appearance properly. AS I've stated before I already had her character written out and by the time Vol 5 came around it just made it even easier to write her. it cave me plenty of different kinds of confrontations and developments to surround her with. Raven** _will_ **be a major player later on, and this is the hint of that.**

 **I wasn't sure how to frame the Adam relationship honestly. First off, the abusive lover stuff we got from RT came** _afterwards_ **which annoyed me because they added a layer they didn't need. It made him bad in a petty kind of way and made you dismiss his reasons for fighting for his people. Sure it develops into madness later but at least then you might have felt bad about it but no, nobody's going to care for an abusive ex-boyfriend who goes crazy. I liked the possessive bit as a symptom for his madness but the abuse already being there? Nah. So... I altered it. There was obviously something there for Blake to fall for in the first place and hopefully this will be a positive change for both characters.**

 **Might have gotten a bit R+ there, or maybe you just thought it was cringy, who knows.**

 **Other than that, Ironwoods not in control of the festival so no massive robot army. he still has them on standy obviously but expect things to play out a little differently now.**

 **Anyway, that's all I had to say right now. Did you like the chapter? I made it a little longer to finish things up. If you did be sure to follow, favourite and review. Also, let me know what you liked about it. Or hated if that's your thing.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	29. Patchwork: Part 1

***Gasp!* Is that a pun in the title?**

 **Moving on!**

 **...**

* * *

Ruby watched out the airships window while hopping from one foot to the other nervously.

Patch. She was going back to Patch.

Why was it she'd never considered that?

With Qrow and Ozpin and their enemies, not to mention her actual involvement in all of it she hadn't thought she'd ever have the chance to see her home again.

But here she was, watching as the ship flew over the port town

The place was smaller than she remembered. That might just be because she'd been smaller then, and she was way up high looking down but still.

Yang leaned on the railing beside her and let out a breath.

Ruby looked her way. "Nervous?"

Yang laughed. "A little. The last time I talked to the old guy we were having a fight."

"What about?"

She shrugged. "Dunno, it was something stupid though, it shouldn't have been the last thing we talked about but I guess now it's just making me wonder how he is. This... is gonna be tough. It's probably going to be worse for you though."

"Don't remind me," she groaned. "I don't even know what to say. Should I apologise? Should I act like it didn't happen?"

"Just do whatever comes naturally." Yang advised. "Go with the flow on something like this. There's not much else you can do."

"I guess so."

Just then Weiss walked over. "The town looks to be a rather quaint little place I'm surprised someone like you lived here Yang."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh you know, you're far too loud to live such a peaceful little place like this."

The blonde stuck out her tongue, thus proving the heiresses point. "So where's Blake?"

"Down in the lower levels."

"Where my bike is?"

"I think so; I don't think she likes being around the people on the ship. Especially with how she is now."

Yang winced. "We need to talk to her about that. I know it's still months away but she's going to have to show her face at the Vytal festival. We're gonna be on TV."

"Let her work through it Yang." The Schnee said, looking out the window. "Not everyone can brush off horrific moments like you can. Not to mention the act of hiding your injuries is with a high cut boot and a pair of gloves."

Yang made to say something before a speaker sounded off above them.

"Whelp, that's our cue." Yang said, hoisting a duffel bag over her shoulder as she made her way to the exit. "Just to let you know Weiss, if things go wrong you're my meat shield while i make a run for it."

"Bite me Xiao-Long."

"Sorry, only Blake has that honour."

"Ugh!"

Ruby and Weiss followed, down the stairs as they felt the ship descend and dock into the port.

Blake was waiting for them beside Bumblebee, with a high collar coat that draped down to her ankles. It was far too warm for something like that, but considering it covered her left side completely - for a very obvious reason - none of them commented on it.

Others moved around them, people returning home from Vale and others visiting for the summer. The bay doors opened and they squinted at the light. There was a crowd of people waiting below, looking for friends and family as they departed from the ship.

"You ready?" Yang asked one last time.

Ruby took a breath. "No, but I guess that doesn't matter right now."

They stepped off the airship onto solid land, Weiss and Blake giving them a little bit of space as they did so. Yang was pretty conspicuous as she wheeled Bumblebee down the ramp.

They say him instantly.

A tall man with a clean-shaven face. He was blond, _really_ blond. It was easy to see where Yang got it from. He was tanned, well built and had a tattoo on one arm in the shape of a heart. Taiyang saw his daughter and smiled. Yang felt as if a crushing weight was lifted off her shoulders.

He was happy to see her. What had she even been worrying about? It was her dad, of course he'd be happy, of course he would forgive her.

She gave a little wave with her good arm, no need to pile it all on him at once. He still had to deal with the biggest thing.

Taiyang's eyes fell to the girl beside her.

They widened in shock.

They stopped just a few feet from him now, smiling nervously.

Ruby gave a little wave.

"Uh…H-hi dad."

He engulfed her in a hug instantly.

Yang watched with a serene smile as Ruby's eyes widened, so shocked was she that her dad had embraced her so quickly. He was saying something into her shoulder, as if trying to assure himself this was really. He'd lifted her off the ground and the reapers legs flailed in the air.

Yang barked out a laugh but it was cut off when her dad reached out and pulled her into the hug.

Heh… guess they were starting over again.

This time they'd do it right.

* * *

…

…

* * *

About an hour later however, things were very different.

The moment was… awkward to say the least.

Yang and Ruby sat on the edge of the cliff, the gravestone of Summer Rose just a few metres to their right. The air was cool and leaves rustled gently in the background

They'd been there for the last five minutes or so, just… silent.

It was Yang who broke that silence.

"So…."

Ruby flinched. "Y-yeah?"

The brawler sighed. "Are we gonna do this or what?"

"We will just let me… let me think." Ruby bit her lip. "I… don't really know where to start. How… how about you ask questions? I'll answer them and we can go on from there."

Yang hummed. That was fair, so she didn't push it. To be honest, Ruby looked like she was doing her best not to run away. She knew this was hard for her sister but after everything they'd been through this conversation _needed_ to happen. The question was, well, what was her first _question?_

"What's the deal with Ozpin?" she asked eventually.

Ruby turned to her in surprise. "Ozpin? How do you know about him? Who told you?"

"Merlot," she answered truthfully, she had decided she was going to be as honest as possible. At least that way, she could maybe squeeze out all the info possible. "He told me a lot of things. A lot of crazy things. Is it true then? Ozpin was like, the king or something?"

"The First King," Ruby answered. "And the last king, and probably a few hundred in between. He's been hundreds of people, maybe even thousands. You know that story about the seasons?"

"Yeah."

"He's the old man in it."

"Really? So… the Maidens are real?"

She nodded. "They're _really real_. You met one of them."

Yang blinked. "I have!? When?"

"Amber… she's the Fall maiden, or- half, I don't know it's complicated."

"Sounds like it. "What else is there to know about him then? Ozpin was like, a huntsman prodigy, youngest headmaster and all that. He's pretty strong from what I've heard so he must have a _lot_ of friends right?"

The younger girl scoffed. "Well yeah, that tends to happen when you have thousands of years fighting experience and you _founded_ the schools. He's the one who put the Headmasters in charge of their schools all over. Well… I think. For Mistral at least. Atlas has the General and Vacuo is… Vacuo."

"Right." She nodded. "So how many other people know, about the headmaster I mean?"

"Well I just mentioned a few of them" Ruby sighed. "The headmaster's in the all of the schools for one. Miss Goodwitch knows, then there's Uncle Qrow and Raven."

"…Raven?"

She flinched again, mainly at the tone Yang was using.

It was… flat.

"Yeah… Raven. She used to be a part of his circle, but she turned her back on Ozpin years ago, went rogue for some reason. I've never actually met her but whenever Qrow talks about her he's never happy."

"So," Yang said. "She was in on whatever… _this_ is."

"Yeah… yeah she was. Not anymore though."

The blonde took a breath. No, she needed to stay focused. Don't go off on a tangent about that women, she didn't matter. _She didn't!_

…There would be more on that later.

But she would know more.

 _It was a shape, a person in red and black reaching out to her as she fell._

She had to.

"Alright, then I guess onto the obvious question then. Why did you leave?"

Ruby licked her lips. "That's… a hard question to answer."

"We got all day."

Ruby sighed. "Alright then. We need to start at the beginning then, with my mom and how she was involved in all of this as a silver-eyed warrior."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Cinder was having an… off day

Things had been hectic recently, and she'd been forced to deal with the consequences of…

What Ruby did.

It had been as much as a surprise as it had been an irritation, and as much as it meant Cinder had to fix things there was-

She wanted to say pride, pride in the fact that Ruby had been good enough to stop a threat to the city. She was the hero she always talked about being.

Of course there _was_ still a lot of irritation as she'd mentioned. Nobody knew she'd given away the location of their operations, she wasn't stupid, but even so it had people frothing at the mouth.

It also meant she had to meet with very important clientele.

Unfortunately since Watts hadn't flown back to his nest yet it meant he'd decided to come along.

She wanted to kill him.

He grated on her nerves worse than anything she'd ever experienced before. And he _enjoyed_ it. he found her anger musing, how he pointed out her failure to complete the maiden transfer, her failure to find competent associates in the form of the White Fang and _oh_ was she about to get to that but worse of all he pulled at the string that was her ego in the face of the disaster that had been the dance infiltration.

Cinder was many things, and she knew she wasn't perfect, for someone like her, with her upbringing there weren't many people who could be considered perfect. But she was _insistent_ that she was skilled. That she was clever and cunning even more than she was powerful.

And to listen to him goad her constantly about being uncovered was _irritating_.

She suppressed a sigh though. It would be fine, she could bear with it if only for the fact that she knew he would not undermine her in front of their associates.

Or, no, he would, it would just be subtle.

But he wouldn't damage her reputation with them. Doing so would risk their cooperation, which would risk the mission.

And that would bring Salem's ire.

Cinder suppressed a shiver at the thought. She'd never seen her Mistress more than vaguely annoyed, but even then, it felt like she was being crushed by something invisible.

No, now wasn't the time to distract herself with that, she needed to focus on the task at hand. Speaking of which:

Cinder's eyes roamed up and down as she approached the meeting point.

It was… a cathedral, on the outskirts of the city. A strange thing in itself considering the general consensus of the population. Religion was something that had disappeared under the rule of the council, and moreover Ozpin.

Religion beckoned a belief in things people couldn't see; it spoke of things closer to magic than the man was happy with.

It begot superstitions and mythology and legends.

Because of that, things like faith and superstitions were more common in frontier towns and villages far away from the city.

You couldn't erase it entirely however, no matter your influence, and so relics of the past like this place stayed around in dedication to some old god people didn't even remember the name of.

Cinder could make out faded incisions on the floors and walls… an old Valean pantheon depicting nomadic deities travelling the continent.

It was quaint if Cider was to search for a word. It was also big and empty.

The half-maiden made her way up along the middle, taking a seat on the third pew from the front. Emerald and Mercury to the one behind. She hummed.

Those two were another issue.

She wasn't sure what to make of them now, not really.

They were… more animated than they had been previously, bolder.

It had been arrogance at the start, mostly form mercury thanks to Watt's casual disregard for her. She'd reprimanded that quickly enough though and made sure they respected her power. Now though, things were different. They hadn't gone completely back to the way they were.

Perhaps they saw her as more human than before, speaking to someone as an equal of sorts.

Emerald was still loyal to a fault and Mercury was still smart enough to realise his best bet was with her, but they were more relaxed around her in normal situations.

"So, what's this supposed to be anyway?" The silver-haired teen asked as he leaned back and hoisting his feet up in a way that probably disrespected whatever god this place was dedicated to. She should probably warn him that such things as deities still technically existed and might come back to bite him later.

"If you mean what we're doing here it's just a simple meeting. Ideally at least, which is why you will _keep_ quiet. Am I clear?"

He sighed. "Yes ma'am."

Emerald shot him a glare for his flippancy, but Cinder knew he would do as he was told, he wasn't stupid.

He was an idiot, but he wasn't stupid.

There was a distinction there; Qrow had proven that long ago by being the bloody drunk that he was.

Before she could begin reminiscing on such things like the past the doors creaked open again. To her left and right the side doors opened too, for the two individuals that couldn't be seen entering a place like this.

And so Roman Torchwick, Arthur Watts, Adam Taurus and Cinder Fall sat down to have a little chat.

The Faunus looked around slowly. He wore less conspicuous clothes than his regular black coat, and with his mask absent he'd gone with dark shades to cover his face. The man didn't _actually_ sit. In fact he liked around the building with disdain. No doubt he was critical of the fact that humans had built this place.

Of course he didn't know that one of the deities worshipped in the Valean pantheon was created by Faunus. Such things were lost, and even if they weren't she doubted he would be educated in such things.

Adam had always struck her as simple in that.

Not a brute, not dull or stupid, but one track minded and simple in his goals.

He cared about nothing but them.

And maybe perhaps the loyalty of his men. She wasn't entirely sure, but apparently there had been a massive uproar when one member in particular had run away.

Still, she'd offered her aid in finding them as an incentive for his cooperation after all.

Roman sat a few rows away from them all, eyes sharp as they flickered between them. he looked like he was alone, but Cinder was sure his little pet psycho was around somewhere and ready to fight if the need arose.

He didn't look happy to be there, which was Cinder could perhaps understand. what sane man wanted to be around terrorists and people who wanted to bring down Vale?

Watts was the last to sit down, just across the stands from her. When he did he hummed loudly.

"What a curious situation we find ourselves in don't you think? The operation you've been planning for months was upset by four little girls."

The thief grumbled something under his breath at that and the maiden frowned. They all new Qrow Branwen had been there too, but it seemed Watts didn't care about _that_ little tidbit.

"It doesn't matter now," she said. "Right now what matters in finding a way to carry out the plan."

Torchwick scoffed. "Yeah well we can't even do that. The breach wasn't supposed to happen until the Vytal Festival, and even the contingency plan relied on the train hitting the city early. Ironwoods tin cans have pulled out of the city thanks to those girls. Even if we somehow get control of them they're not much use."

"My Black Queen virus will take care of that," the doctor informed them. "Once that is done they can still be pointed in the right direction."

Cinder blinked. Was there some other plan she wasn't aware of?

He went on. "All you'll need to do is unleash then through the city. The Huntsman will be forced to abandon the school in order to protect the civilians."

Roman baulked. "You want me to start executing civs? Are you serious?"

"Is that disobedience I hear?"

He grit his teeth but didn't say anything more. His eyes flickered to Cinder for a moment before moving away. She narrowed her eyes.

He knew something. Something he wasn't saying in front of them. Something about her.

"Why am I here?" the Faunus finally grunted. "This is scheming between you humans, I need to take no part in this."

Watts rolled his eyes. "You are here because you need to understand who is in charge now. Our Mistress has appointed me as the leader of this plan after Cinder's recent failure. "

… _what?!_

"As such you are to speak to me regarding anything to do with the attack."

"So I am to listen to _you_ human? I don't think you understand my position here." the terrorist growled, grabbing the hilt of his sword. "I have no interest in listening to a madman, much less someone like you. My only interest is my own goals."

Cinder forced herself not to slap her own face. Good gods he blathered about his 'goals' and his 'cause' every time she spoke to him. If he wasn't so useful for controlling the White Fang she'd burn him to a crisp.

No, she still might do that when this was done.

The doctor didn't look phased. "Someone like me? You wouldn't happen to be referring to my status as an Atlesian scientist are you?"

Adam's eyes narrowed. "I am. I also distinctly remember hearing that you were exiled from Atlas after they caught you performing illegal practices. Funny to see a rejected man like you here isn't it?"

Cinder hid her pleasure at the way Watt's arrogant smile slipped from his face. Maybe she wouldn't kill Adam after all, perhaps just cripple him.

"Regardless," the doctor went on. "I am the one on control now, and the plan is changing. Since your White Fang will now be the main force in dealing with Beacon as I'm sure you'll love, you are to collect more Grimm for the attack. The caverns in Mountain Glenn that recently opened should give you ample opportunity for that… and one more thing."

Watts turned to Cinder and smiled nastily.

"I've decided to call in some associates of ours. You might like him Taurus, he's a perfect example of your species. "

Before Cinder could even wonder what he meant-

Mad laughter echoed through the cathedral.

The Scorpion had been summoned to Vale.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang swallowed loudly. Her face was… numb. Ruby was still sat beside her, but she was looking at her nervously, as if afraid of what she was going to say.

"That's…" Yang hesitated. "So, gods… gods are real."

"Yeah… there are a lot of creatures people used to assume were deities because of how powerful they were, but the brothers are the main ones, the real gods. In fact they-"

"Shit Ruby just, just stop for a sec." Yang pulled her legs into her chest and gripped her head. "This is all, this is too much. All this time I thought you'd left because Qrow decided he wanted a daughter or you ran away or you hated me or, or… fucking _shit!_ "

Ruby flinched and she felt even worse for it. Now wasn't the time to get made, she needed to focus.

"You were being hunted down." She whispered. "You were being chased by people who wanted you dead and here I was feeling sorry for myself."

"That's not true!"

"Isn't it though?"

"No!" Ruby barked sharply, startling her a little. "No it's not true at all. Don't you get it? I… I had to leave so that you wouldn't be hurt. I thought that if I kept it a secret you wouldn't get involved in all of this."

She looked at Yang's arm and sighed. "That was obviously a waste of time."

She trailed off, and Yang didn't have a clue how she was supposed to continue. Ozpin was a goddamn immortal wizard, Ruby was part of a secret society fighting against the literal Queen of Grimm and the woman she'd called mom for years had died in that fight.

Ruby glanced her way and as if she had heard her thoughts she sighed and looked over towards the grave.

"Sometimes… I wonder what it would have been like to have more than just a few vague memories of mom." She bit her lip hesitantly. "What was she like?"

Yang swallowed. How was she supposed to answer that? Summer had been the one who raised her but for Ruby she was like this… story, that was what happened when your mother wasn't there for most of your life.

Maybe Yang was lucky. Sure, Summer hadn't been her biological mother, but that hadn't mattered. She'd loved her all the same.

"Mom was… well she was awesome. Every second she was with us she was awesome. She was smart and funny and always smiling. Like, I mean always, even when I did something stupid like set fire to the garden she wouldn't get mad."

"You set fire to the garden?"

"My semblance had just started working gimme a break. Do you know how hard it is to play outside when your hair lights itself on fire?"

Ruby laughed at that. "Guess I don't, must have been tough."

"It was," Yang nodded with a laugh of her own. "But Mom never got mad. It was like… she knew I could do better, it was her whole approach to parenting, but it was surreal, like she'd never expected to be a parent."

"That's because she didn't."

"Huh?"

The younger girl looked over the cliff. "Mom was a warrior, a hero. Uncle Qrow always talked about how she was set on saving people all people. She wanted to save the world. She was a huntress before anything else and apparently she didn't have much of a social life outside her team. She raised you and… well whatever happened with dad meant that."

She sighed. "I was an accident. Plain and simple. Mom was the _last_ silver-eyed warrior… and now I am. I guess that when she had me things changed. Not enough though."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she's dead isn't she?"

"R-Ruby…"

She closed her eyes and sighed. "I know. I know it's stupid of me and… I know it's not right but sometimes I think that… it's her fault. She was my mom. She was supposed to be there for me. She was supposed to raise me but instead she went on a dangerous mission that got her killed and-"

Her voice cracked painfully. Ruby blinked away the tears she hadn't even realised where there. She tried to pull up her head but Yang got there first.

She shut her eyes and leaned into her big sister's hug.

"It's not _fair!_ " she cried. "She cared more about being a hero when she should have been my mom. I-I looked up to her sure but I wouldn't have cared what she did as long as she'd just _been_ there but she wasn't! And then- and then I was left to pick up where she left off!"

She nails dug down hard into her hands. "I wanted to be a huntress. That's it. I wanted to help people. Not this, not fighting a war against evil."

Yang closed her eyes as Ruby broke off into even more sobbing.

Crap… Ruby was dealing with this all by herself. She was supposed to be the big sister, the one Ruby could talk to when things were bad. Right now she felt pretty bad at her job. Who could she have talked to, Qrow? Goodwitch? Ozpin? Everybody was wrapped up in all this craziness and not once did they stop to ask if the fifteen-year-old girl they were putting so much on could hold up to it all.

Not even once.

It was decided, right here and now, she wasn't going to make the same mistake they'd made. She was going to be what she was supposed to be.

Family.

She laid a hand on to pf Ruby's head and stroked her head comfortingly. It took a few minutes before she stopped crying again, but that was fine, Yang didn't care if her clothes were stained with a few tears.

Eventually though, Ruby found the steadiness to speak again.

"So what happens now, with you?"

"What do you mean?"

Ruby sniffed. "Back at the mountain, Merlot gave you something didn't he?"

"Yeah… he did." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the flash drive. After a moment of thought she pulled out her scroll as well and plugged the stick in. before her eyes hundred of pages flickered onto the small screen.

"What is it?"

"His research," the blonde answered. "Every single little scrap of info he was able to find in his entire life in on this."

Yang licked her lips in thought. "And I think I know what I'm going to do with it."

"What do you mean?"

Yang gazed down at her hand. "Oobleck isn't just a Huntsman right? He's a historian. I bet there are other people who take on another career complimentin' what they do. I think I could be like that. A researcher."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He told me he'd barely scratched the surface but if its even half as amazin' as what he already told me then I wanna know as much as I can. I want to finish what he started."

Ruby looked away from a moment as if deciding something big.

"Then maybe I can help. Right here right now."

Yang blinked. "What do you mean?"

The younger girl shot her a tiny grin. "Trust me okay?"

"Obviously."

Suddenly Ruby blushed and scratched her cheek. "We kinda need to uh, hold hands first."

Yang laughed. "What are you getting so embarrassed about? We just hugged."

"Well _yeah_ but holding hands is different!"

"How?"

"Ugh, nevermind, let's just do it. And make sure to cross your legs."

"What, are we meditating?"

"Yes actually."

Yang blinked. Uh, okay, meditation it was then. How was this supposed to help her with anything? Was it some metal thing? Lie, if she cleared her head she'd find answers quicker?

She let Ruby lead her as they turned to sit across each other. Ruby closed her eyes and Yang copied her.

"So what now."

"Just… give me a second. I need to concentrate. To do this I need to give you the key."

"What like a key for a door?"

"Kind of, but it's a mental thing."

"How does that wor-"

She froze. There in her mind the image of a key appeared. Except it felt like it was right in front of her face. It was as if it was really there, and… it didn't actually look like a key. Shure there was the vague shape but it was bigger. Or was it smaller? She couldn't really get a feel for scale.

Ruby's voice whispered in her ear.

" _Reach out and take it Yang, and open your eyes."_

So she did, reaching out with her mind and grasping the key. There was a flash behind her eyelids, so bright she forced to open them.

…

What?

WHAT?!

What was this!? How did something like this even exist?!

They were all around her: book, tomes, scrolls and everything in between. They were stack on shelves upon shelves. Hundreds of thousands, no, more. She looked up and gapped. It went op and up, around and around. There was a white light at the top, not a ceiling. it was as if it went up so high cloud had formed. But that wasn't possible. Clouds couldn't form indoors.

 _But these ones did!_

Millions. There were millions of books. And levels upon levels of floors to reach them all.

"Welcome," Ruby smirked. "To the Odyssium."

Yang's head snapped to her sister, who sat on a mahogany table.

There were tables! Dozens laid out in neat order on the ground level, as if for people to sit together and read.

When Yang managed to form sentences again all she could say was; "What's going on here? What is this place?"

Ruby hummed. "It's a library. _The_ library. Everything you could ever know about magic is here. not just every story, ever version of that story, every opinion every interpretation and every analysis of a story is on these shelves. Every moment in history is archived here from a thousand different perspectives and every bit of knowledge from the scholars that used to oversee this place I on these shelves."

She grinned wider. "It's like the god's library. You said you wanted to continue his research? This is the best place you could start."

Yang looked up again, turning around and around as she did so. "I wouldn't even know where to start."

"I do." Ruby said, tossing her a leather bound book with golden encrusted edges.

Yang caught it easily and looked down at the cover. "What's this?"

"It's a fairy tale," she said. "It's called Goldilocks. It's about you."

Yang looked up at her sister in surprise before looking down again. She sat down at one of the tables…

And opened the book.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss and Blake thanked Mr Xiao-Long as he offered them something to drink. The three of them were sat at the kitchen table after the man had asked to know a few things about how his daughters were getting on at Beacon. Said daughters had said they were visiting their mother's grave.

Weiss could accept that was all well and good.

Except that had been three hours ago.

"Thank you for this." Blake said quietly, a cup of team steaming in her hands. Weiss had gone for coffee when offered the choice, but the man had been accommodating to both of them.

"It's no problem." he smiled. "This is a great opportunity if you don't mind me saying, getting to know my daughter's partners. You might be able to tell me some things about what they've been up to. Sad to say I haven't gotten much from Yang all year."

Blake winced at that. "Yes, she realised she hadn't spoken to you just last week. With everything that's been going on it slipped her mind. She didn't mean it in a bad way I promise."

"Ah I know." Mr Xiao-Long laughed. "Yang's not a bad girl, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. But I was a little worried. Yang's the kind to hold a grudge."

"Truly?" Weiss blinked. "I didn't realise."

"That just means you haven't done anything to make her angry." He laughed. "I know she always seems mad, especially with her attitude but it's a little different to what you'd expect."

Blake tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

The man hummed. "Well, you've probably seen Yang fight right?" they nodded so he continued. "That's what I call 'hot-headed' Yang. She's loud, brash and angry, but it's not all that scary. Unless you're actually an opponent she's in the middle of fighting she's harmless all bark and no bit if you know what I mean."

He blinked. "That wasn't offensive was it? I'm sorry, I haven't had the chance to speak to many Faunus recently."

"No," Blake laughed. "Don't worry, metaphors are completely fine."

"Right, anyway, as I said that's the first kind of anger. The second is a lot more dangerous."

"Well what is it?" The heiress pressed.

Mr Xiao-Long leaned back in his chair. "I'm not really sure how to explain it. it's like… Well, the first type of anger she got from me. I'll admit I was reckless when I was young, but for as loud as I was my teammates all knew it was just me blowing off steam. The second kind she developed from her mother."

The monochrome pair shared a look. The father caught it. "So she mentioned Raven then?"

"A… a little." Weiss admitted. "We don't know much about her detail wise, other than the fact she left when Yang was very young."

"Hm," he nodded. "Three months to be specific but that's… well, it's not what we're talking about. The point is, when Raven was mad it was… savage. Almost animalistic. Her and Qrow were a lot alike in that. Their anger was violent. They'd beat and brutalise whoever it was that sparked their temper, save for a few obviously. It was always really, really scary."

"It sounds like it." Blake agreed.

The blond man shrugged. "To be honest I can't really blame them, it was their environment, the way they grew up."

"What do you mean?" the Faunus asked.

"To put it plainly, the two of them were bandits."

The teens startled, staring at the man wide-eyed. He laughed at their expressions.

"Yep, Yang already knows the story, and if Ruby was with Qrow all this time she probably knows too, but he and Raven were born in Mistral as part of a feared bandit tribe. It still exists, nomadic and dangerous to any town or village that they cross. The two of them joined for the expressed desire of learning how to kill Huntsman."

Weiss sucked in a sharp breath. "Kill them? Why?!"

"Because their tribe was a band of thieves and killers, and because Huntsmen were a threat to them. Obviously I didn't find out right away, but around our third year the two of them confessed. By then though we were a proper team, closer than anybody else. Things… things had changed."

Blake frowned. "How?" she asked. "How do two people raised by criminals with the purpose of killing Huntsman that might be their classmates change that much?"

Taiyang's next smile was… melancholy.

"Easy; they meet Summer Rose."

They shared another look. Weiss spoke up first this time. "Summer Rose was Ruby's mother correct?"

"That's right."

"So… who… who was she? What was she like?"

"That's… complicated." He gave them an apologetic smile. "Maybe another time. For now, how about we get you two set up in your rooms. You brought luggage with you right?"

The man stood up. "We might as well get you ready now before it gets late. Come on."

With that he made his way past them and out of the room.

"Well." Blake said. "He seems… a lot nicer than I thought he would be… but he didn't even look at my left side."

"With everything that's happened he's probably still focused on Yang's new additions and the reappearance of Ruby. Besides, he's an experienced Huntsman, from our experiences they all seem a little odd. He probably noticed but chose not to mention it yet."

"Right… I guess we should follow him then."

"We should," Weiss agreed. "I have an objective this summer, collect all of the most embarrassing stories and photos from Yang's childhood."

"Uh, why?"

"Blackmail of course!"

"Truly, the Schnee's are terrifying business tycoons."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby allowed herself a light chuckle as she returned to Yang's table. They were still inside the Odyssium, but she'd chosen to give her older sister a little space to read as she looked towards the last bit of the 'tour' she had to get through.

The blonde was still enamoured in the books, but at her side was a pile-up of maybe ten or twelve already.

Huh… Yang was a quick study then.

And the book in her hands was…

"Enjoying yourself?"

Yang jumped a little in surprise. She hadn't even noticed her then. Heh, cute. She grinned a second later.

"Hel yeah. Look at all this stuff. Look at us! I read about all of us! You, Weiss and team JNPR. I mean, their stories are kinda lot cooler than ours but ya know, still!"

"Yeah…" Ruby hummed, sitting atop the table. "It is pretty cool… so… what about the one you're reading? Beuty and the beast?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's about Blake right? The girl's name is even Bella, how crazy is that? And she likes books."

"There are a few similarities yes. That happens when you're a-"

"Yeah but get this! The other character is the beast who she falls in love with-"

"Which versions have you read?"

Yang blinked and checked the pages again, flipping back a little to make sure.

"Uh… Universal, classical and the… how is the pronounced, 'Beautmont's La Belle at La Bête'. The Universal is the best one I think, the one with the golden dress and the talking furniture."

Ruby hummed. "Yeah that _is_ the favourite one. Bits and pieces are taken from the others and kind of mashed together with it in reality though. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh, right. The story says she's with this beast character. That's like, totally me."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I mean, he even gives her the gold dress and that's like, my colour scheme."

"Could be."

"What you think I'm wrong?"

The younger girl shrugged. "No, I think your right, but not for that reason. You understand that you're Goldilocks right?"

"I-I guess so. Does that mean it can't be me?"

"Eh… it's hard to explain." Ruby said with a shaky hand motion. "It's uh… like a crossover thing. You get it? Characters can be a part of multiple stories at once."

"Does that change anything?"

"I don't think so. It's not like there's a study for this but there's no innate difference from being an Avatar of one or two stories. "

Yang nodded slowly. "Kay… so how do you think it's related to me then?"

"References mostly, things you have in common with the beast. Anger issues for one."

"Hey!"

"But I think it also links with me. You know where?"

Yang looked down at the book for a moment before blinking.

"Holy shit. The magic Rose."

"Yep, the rose. That's how you and I are connected in the story. Things like that you have to watch out for though. Like if you're the beast then who's Gaston?"

Yang thought for a moment. "I dunno… Blake has an ex, does that count?"

"It could," Ruby allowed. "Or it could be completely unrelated. If Blake's love life was related entirely to the book that would be a problem."

"Why?"

"Because Gaston is in the business of killing the beast and I don't think you're getting any resurrections."

There was a pause where Yang bit her lip.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"It's nothing. Or, well it is but it's weird."

"Well just say it."

"Okay, so you know when you figured you Blake and I were dating?"

"You mean a few days ago?" Ruby flushed. "Where I embarrassed myself by showing how little I paid attention?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Well, when sad yeah you looked… like, upset, worried. Is there a problem with us dating?"

It was Ruby's turn to bite her lip. "No, Yes, maybe? I don't know it's just… wait here a second."

Ruby jumped off the table and sped away to the upper levels of the library and sped back in record time. When she stopped she tossed another book at Yang.

The blonde blinked. "What is it?"

"The story of Saint Martha and the Golden Legend. She tames a monster that was terrorising a town."

"Oh cool, I'm Saint Martha?"

"No, you're the monster. It's called Tarasque."

"Which is…?"

Ruby sighed. "Basically a weird sort of hybrid which classifies as a dragon on the loosest terms imaginable."

"And that's me because?"

Ruby shot her a look as if to ask if she was serious.

"Uh, your last name has _dragon_ in it? Not to mention it's a mish-mash of different things, which, hey, with that arm and leg you totally are now and I don't know, the _literal_ dragon heart you have in your chest!"

"…Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Anyway, Saint Marth tames the dragon and brings it back to the town, only for it to be slaughtered. I wouldn't really bring this up except there's a really _key_ reference to in Beauty and the Beast. The quote goes something like 'Twas beauty that killed the beast'."

Yang frowned. "You think Blake's going to kill me?"

"Or get you killed." Ruby nodded, but when the frown on her sister's face didn't disappear she sighed. "I trust Blake, but she's involved the White Fang a lot. It might just be a case of you protecting her but if you do and it gets you killed…"

"Okay I get it." Yang said, standing up a little as she made a placating gesture with her hands. "But come on Ruby, you don't need to worry about that. I'm not stupid enough to just rush into some place that's gonna get me killed. Come on, this is cool! If I'm in the same story as Blake as her love interest is that that awesome?"

Ruby didn't look happy. "Yang. What are the benefits of being an Avatar?"

She blinked at the sudden change in topic but answered anyway, listing off what Ruby had told her about an hour ago when she'd explained them.

"There's the innate skills and talents they pick up, some kind of awakening that's really rare, and they can't be controlled by the relics, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, do you want to know the weaknesses? The really crippling one? Free will."

"… What?"

Ruby gave a frustrated sigh. "Avatars are templates for _stories_ Yang. Things that have been written out and already decided. All throughout history their actions are already a big part controlled by what they do in the actual stories. Hel, sometimes it's even their likes and dislikes. Like lo and behold, Blake likes reading just like Bella."

"But that's just a coincidence right?"

"Considering things like semblances, those things that are supposed to be manifestations of our souls and feels are based off our Avatars, I don't think so. Sun's the perfect example. When you have a chance look up his story. Clones like that are a dead giveaway even before the name. I mean _come on_! He was named the exact same thing."

Yang looked at her sister nervously. "So what are… what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we're cursed. Regular people get to go about their lives and make their own decisions. They might not be big, sometimes they are, but they're theirs. Us? Our lives are dictated by storybooks. They might tell us whether we're going to die or not, how, when. It's not up to us. We can't be controlled by the relics sure, but only we don't have free will anyway to lose in the first place."

Ruby grit her teeth. "It means that you might die, if you go down the path of this fairy tale, no, you almost definitely will."

Yang gave Ruby a long, searching look. "What do you think about it then?"

The reaper blinked. "Huh?"

"I said what do you think? About Avatars not having a choice?"

Ruby though for a moment, before a look of determination crossed her face.

"I think it's bullshit." She answered honestly. "I refuse to let something else tell me that I have this plan already set out for me. I refuse to believe in destiny, because it means everything bad that's ever happened to us was meant to happen. It means mom was meant to die."

Her hand slammed down on the table. "I refuse. I refuse all of it!"

There was more to it than that, both of them knew that, because either way Summer Rose had died. She'd either been trapped on a path towards death, or she'd truly had freedom and died anyway. both were crap.

Yang nodded. "Then I do too. Screw destiny then. If that's the case then we'll live our lives the way we want to. I won't die, and you'll get a happy ending you hear?"

She laughed. "Yeah… yeah I hear."

Her big sister grinned, setting the book down. "So… It's probably getting late since we've been here a while. Not that I can tell. Was there anything else you wanted to show me here?"

Ruby hummed. "There is one thing actually. Follow me."

Yang did so, taking a step away from the table and letting Ruby lead her up a spiralling staircase at the back of the Odyssium.

It… led all the way up into the white beyond.

Yang didn't feel tired, but by the time they stopped they must have walked up a hundred floors. Was there no fatigue here? Were these even their real bodies?

She might have asked.

If it wasn't for the massive door before them.

It was _huge_. Like, the size of a house huge. A pristine white Marble with golden encrusted sides and spiralling encrustments of the same material. In the centre where the doors met was an indent. It was the shape of a sphere, about the size of her head.

"What is this thing?"

"Technically? I have no clue." Ruby admitted. "I've never actually been through there. It could have anything in there, more fairy tales, the truths about Remnant of maybe just an empty room."

"Why can't we go in?"

"Because it needs a key. A key in the form of the Relic of Knowledge."

"You mean…"

Ruby nodded. "Yep. There are two things the section of the Odyssium we're in doesn't have. One, it doesn't have Fairy tales that originate from this world. The Maidens, The Man with Two Souls, The Girl in the Tower. Those are all tales from this world, but aren't stored in this place for some reason. The second, is that since it's a library, it's an archive, a documentation of stories and facts. It doesn't show things from the future. It can't in any way reveal what might happen in the the outside world that hasn't happened yet. How ever this place was created, I think it needed people to run it."

Yang's eyes were locked in the door as Ruby spoke. "Behind that though? I don't know. It was built with the Relic in mind. So it's either for the Gods themselves, or whoever they think are 'worthy'."

Yang frowned. "Doesn't Ozpin have the Relics though? Couldn't he just use them to open the doors?"

"I wondered about that." Ruby mused aloud. "But then you have to think that if he has access to all four Relics, why doesn't he just wish for a way to beat Salem?"

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't really know." She admitted. "But I have a theory to do with _his_ Avatar."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Anything in particular?"

"Only a quote; Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

* * *

…

…

* * *

By the time the two sisters arrived back home the sun had gone down.

When the two of them entered the living room, Weiss and Blake sat on the couch, looking relatively relaxed as the heiress listened to the news.

There was still a hubbub about the activity at Mountain Glenn. Several different news networks were talking about it in detail, the White Fang there and how Ozpin had managed to convince the council to hire Huntsman to bolster security at the Vytal Festival.

The Heiress turned when she heard them come in. "Oh finally, I was beginning to wonder where you two had gotten off to."

Yang managed to look apologetic about it as she scratched her head. "Yeah, sorry about that," she grinned. "We kind of lost track of time." She stopped and took a sniff of the air.

Weiss blinked and even Blake looked surprised at the blonde as she took a sniff of the air herself. what, was Yang's sense of smell better than Blake's now? Since when?

"Oh great, Dad's been cooking!"

As if summoned Taiyang's voice sounded from the kitchen. "Girls, dinners ready!"

"Dinner?" Weiss asked. She got up along with Blake as Yang strode into the other room followed closely behind by Ruby.

The Schnee wasn't sure what she was expecting, but a delicious, steaming roast wasn't it. The table was set out for five, with Yang and Ruby's father having the seat at the dead of the table already set out for himself as he busily laid out the rest.

"Oh let me help you with that!" Ruby offered, quickly taking two of the plates herself.

There was a brief pause that passed between father and daughter. Everything was good, it was fine now, but eventually they would have to talk about what had happened.

The girl nodded and went back to setting the table.

Weiss continued to stare. "What is all this?"

"Huh?" Yang smiled in confusion. "What's it look like? It's dinner."

"Where we all eat together?"

The other girls froze, as did the Father. Weiss realised she must have said something wrong, but before she could defend herself a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her.

"This is my daughter now." Taiyang proclaimed. "I will take care of her now."

Ruby giggled as the heiress flushed.

After that, there was a whole good-natured feeling as Team RWBY sat down to eat, simply enjoying the good food and better company.

It was truly relaxed.

There was a bark.

Taiyang looked up from the table. "Oh! There you are Zwei."

Blake yelped and fell out of her chair.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **It's time to relax guys, time for all the members of Team RWBY to relax after fighting terrorists and facing near-death experiences.**

 **Of course, the villains aren't going to wait around for them to be ready, they have their own plans in motion.**

 **I'm introducing Tyrian into the mix earlier for a few reasons that I won't mention yet, but I do wonder who the new villain will be. In case you don't know, RT announced there would be a new bad-guy in Volume 6. Apparently people would find out early from their card game but who knows.**

 **Well, as I said, it's time for a little relaxing, but don't expect it to last too long. Summers a long time, and they'll need to get back to work sooner rather than later.**

 **What did you think of this chapter by the way? Did you like it? Or did you hate it. Let me know what you think.**

 **And hey, if you feel like it, Be sure to stick around by Following, Favouriting and Reviewing.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	30. PatchWork: Part 2

Blake scratched a particularly annoying itch on her left arm. Damn it, this was annoying.

It was a small, constant feeling that nibbled at the back of her mind no matter how much she tried to ignore it. she didn't even know why so many things today were annoying her:

The sun was annoying her, the cool breeze was ignoring her, hel, even reading was annoying her right now because every time she turned the damn page she was reminded that her left hand was… was _this!_

It didn't even have the decency to look like Yang's, which was identical to her other in every way apart from colour.

Hers weren't. She had long black spindly fingers with pointed ends. Not to mention that dark miasma that leaked from it.

She scratched again.

Despite being outside, on a warm and bright day, relaxing in the shade under one of the many trees surrounding Yang and Ruby's house she wore a long-sleeved compression shirt.

It was _sweltering_ but she refused to take it off.

If she did she'd have to look at her left side again.

She'd done it this morning, looked at herself in the mirror and just taken it all in:

Her hand, arm, shoulder, neck, torso and everything below that on her left side was… _whatever this was_. Grimm or something. Pitch black and monstrous.

She glared down at her legs.

Ruby had told her she wasn't allowed to wear anything but shorts today. For some unbeknownst reason her leader had decided to take her position seriously when it came to Blake's attire and made sure that the Faunus had at least one part of her body showing.

She now she was looking at her bare legs –shoes of course being out of the question as well Blake liked the feeling of soft grass under her feet – and was forcefully reminded of what she looked like every time she looked down.

It was even worse than her hand, if only because her toes ended in sharp white nails. As in, so sharp they chipped wood when she walked indoors. (Mr Xiao-Long had told her not to worry about it the first time she apologised for it. The man really was too forgiving.)

But the worst, the absolute _worse_ thing she had to deal with was that damn dog! She could see the thing even now, barking loudly as it ran rings around a laughing Ruby.

Zwei.

The name of evil.

The bloody mutt was a scourge, taking every opportunity to ruin per peace and quiet!

And what was worse, even more insane was Weiss liked him.

Weiss!

There was something going on. There had to be for the corgi to bewitch the heiress like that.

Even now, she cooed over the dog as Ruby laughed.

It… it was just so wrong!

Weiss did not make kissy faces. She didn't puff out her cheeks and use an overtly childish voice when talking. Except that was exactly what she was doing and if Blake was honest it was horrifying.

She tried to block out the sound of Weiss asking ' _Who's a good boy?_ ' over and over again while giving Zwei a belly rub.

Everything was just… weird.

It wasn't bad, she had to remind herself, in fact this was probably the safest place she could have been apart from Beacon. There were no White Fang here, no racists and she had her whole team here with her, not to mention Yang and Ruby's father.

She even saw Qrow earlier today. Apparently he had just arrived.

He was In the house right now 'sorting' things out with Mr Xiao-Long. There wasn't any yelling, nor the sound of things being broken, so that was a good sign at least.

Balke was taken out of her thoughts as something wet touched her left palm. She recoiled as she looked down to see the dog had been licking her.

It stopped, looked up at her and tilted its head, tail wagging all the while.

What did it want?

It moved closer, nuzzling into her darkened side again.

It was a huntsman dog wasn't it? Could it sense the Grimm part of her? If so it should have been attacking her, not cuddling.

In nudged her again, and with a resigned sigh she let her hand fall atop its head, scratching at its ears.

"By no means does this make us friends." She mumbled. "I'd just rather have you not annoying me you mutt."

Still… Blake had to admit there was something nice about rubbing his-

 _Click._

Blake's eyes snapped up to see Weiss taking a picture on her scroll.

Of Blake.

Petting Zwei.

The heiress smirked. "Blackmail material."

"Weiss no!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang was facing a dilemma.

A really, really big dilemma.

It was in regards to Blake.

As her girlfriend.

Yang liked Blake. She really did. She liked spending time around her, listening to her and even the mention that Blake was her girlfriend made her all tingly.

But there was a problem.

Yang didn't know what Blake liked.

Well… she knew she liked… reading. And she cared a lot about Faunus rights and the White Fang and she liked quiet but apart from that?

She didn't actually know much else about Blake.

Yang palmed her head.

And the worst part was; that they'd done this the wrong way around.

They were supposed to get to know each other _before_ jumping into bed together.

Maybe that just wasn't something Blake understood if her ex was anything to go by. Hel, even Raven had known her dad for years before they did it.

They'd gotten _married_ for god's sake.

Summer… hadn't technically married him, but they'd known each other for just as long before anything happened between them.

Yang had messed it all up, and now?

Now there was this… thing between them.

It was like Blake didn't know what to do, and Yang sure as hel didn't know how to change that. They were awkward around each other when it came to anything relationship wise.

It had been fine with everything that had been going on recently but now that things had calmed down it was really starting to show.

She'd managed to escape before things got worse at least, retreating to Summer's grave to think. It was… quiet here.

She could probably have just gone into the Odyssium again but, well, Ruby had told her not to. Her sister had drawn out a clear set of rules for the library, mainly not going into it every chance she got lest she get addicted to it. With so much to offer there was a real risk of becoming reclusive and since it meant her real body would be in the same place for the time she was there it wasn't entirely healthy.

Yang understood, at least a little, but she still made sure to visit every day, usually in the mornings when everyone else was still asleep. The stacks of books she'd gone through were taller than her now.

Yang was sure she'd done more voluntary reading in the last week than she had the rest of her life!

But again, Ruby had warned her about that, as well as a number of other things.

Speaking of…

The sound of soft wingbeats was heard behind her, but she acted as if she couldn't hear them. A moment later, footsteps.

Ruby had told her all about Qrow's little trick, and how he worked for Ozpin closely.

Ruby wanted to keep Yang's involvement with the headmaster to a minimum. She'd made the blonde promise to avoid it if she could. So she had to act like she knew nothing about magic in front of Qrow.

Funny considering he was so obvious about it. maybe because he thought she wouldn't even pay attention to a _bird_ flying by that he thought he could be lax in how he did things.

He heard him stop just a few feet away.

"Uh… hey."

She shifted. "…Hey."

There was a pause, and Yang could tell he was looking at Summers grave for some kind of inspiration.

"Do you… mind if I sit here?"

She shrugged.

Qrow took that as a yes, and with a grunt he plopped down beside her, feet dangling off the edge of the cliff. "So," he tried. "How's the arm?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's how you're going to start? Aren't most people told _not_ to broach the Goliath in the room?"

The man's eyes widened in sudden panic. "Well I uh- I mean-"

She rolled her eyes and cracked a smile for his benefit. It didn't suit Qrow's demeanour to act like that. "Don't worry, you don't have to act like you care about it. It's fine."

He frowned. "Act like I care?"

She blinked at his upset tone. "Well… yeah? I mean you don't right?"

"How did you get that impression?"

"I dunno," she admitted. "That's just what it felt like."

It did. Ruby had told her about what happened after she'd been dragged away by Grimm. Qrow had wanted to leave, wanted to get out of there. It would have meant leaving her behind. Yang knew it was just logic and the facts that had dictated his choices. It was a miracle, nearly impossible that she'd survived.

But it still hurt to know he'd said it.

Qrow looked away for a moment. He reached or his hipflask but hesitated and after a moment abandoned the idea. He sighed heavily.

"I've been a really shitty Uncle haven't I?"

When Yang didn't answer he sighed again.

"I'm sorry firecracker."

"What, we're going with nicknames now? What's with that one anyway? You called me something like that before."

He glanced at her. "You don't remember? It's what I used to call you when you were little. Before-" he cut himself off, realising the tripwire he'd just stepped through.

"Before you left with Ruby."

"…Yeah, before that."

Yang sighed, leaning back with her eyes closed. What was she supposed to do? Her heart told her not to forgive him, that he'd done something irreparable not only in abandoning her just like Raven had, but also in taking Ruby away…

Her head told her to stop being selfish. Ruby had been taken yes, but it was for her own safety. For hers as well. This whole situation had been out of their control – out of Qrow's control – from the start.

"It doesn't matter," she said at last, and a part of her felt a little guilty for trying to hold a grudge when Qrow suddenly looked hopeful. She had to remember, she was his family too. "Whatever happened, happened and there's nothing we can do about it… but, if you want to start over then we could."

"You got it." he nodded. "We can start from the beginning, me as you're cool, slightly drunk Uncle that helps you out whenever you need it."

She smirked. "Whenever I needed it huh?" that gave her an idea.

"Hey _Uncle Qrow_. How good are you with the ladies?"

He blinked. "I'd say I wasn't too bad. I'm more of a one-time relationship sorta guy though; my luck usually means I can't hold something like that for long."

"You think you're any good with impressing someone on a date?"

"Yeah, why?"

Yang grinned. "Well I could use some help."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake sat on the couch watching TV. She'd never actually been a big fan of it, but the reruns of old shows at least help distract her from… not boredom, but her own thoughts at least. Ther was something else though. Weis had just sat down, and was giving her an intense, searching look.

It was something important. Blake flicked her hand to the remote and muted the television.

The heiress hummed, then sighed.

Weiss leaned back, her ponytail falling over the side of the seat.

It was funny, Ruby had gone out the other day with her partner to shop around. It was a new experience for the heiress, that was looking around practically quaint little stores rather than the high-end ones she was used to.

Even more surprising was the light blue hoodie she'd purchased, along with a long grey skirt that somehow only Weiss could manage to look classy.

Though, Weiss seemed to like it _a lot_ more than Blake would have expected. She'd worn the hoodie on and off for the whole week. She'd mentioned it been far more comfortable than what she usually had in her wardrobe.

Right now though, Weiss looked nearly like a different person altogether. In both her dress and her demeanour.

She seemed… not tired, maybe lazy, or, at least she looked like it, but the intensity in her icy look showed something else.

"Belladonna," she said at last, and for a second Blake thought she'd just referred to her before-

"That's the last name of the former White Fang high leader."

Oh.

Oh no.

"Your silence says you knew that though." Weiss sighed, a hand rising to her face as she closed her eyes. "I thought Belladonna was a common name, I didn't even think that you and I would be on the same team with _that_ sort of background. I mean, what are the chances? The heiress of the SDC and the daughter of the White Fang high leader."

"Former high leader." Blake felt obligated to say.

Weiss gave her a searching look before nodding. "Former high leader," she allowed. "He stepped down over five years ago… he didn't organise attacks against my family. That matter went to Sienna Khan, which means you probably knew her didn't you"

The Faunus swallowed. She couldn't even look at Weiss properly. "I did."

Another sigh. "You'd wonder why the daughter of a man dedicated to peace decided to join it as it becomes a terrorist movement."

Blake flinched but Weiss wasn't finished. "Obviously I don't know your reasons… but you were a part of it all the same… and you left it all the same."

"Y-you're not angry?" the Faunus asked nervously.

Weiss scoffed. "Oh I'm angry, but more on the fact that it took me so long to figure out who you were; I did some digging, after all the attention you got from those members of the White Fang at Mountain Glenn-" they both shivered involuntarily at the mention. It would be something they wouldn't forget for a long time. "- I thought it would be a good idea to find out if there was anything on you from before your time in the White Fang."

The heiress let out a little laugh. "I didn't realise when you mentioned how long you'd been in it that you meant you were born into it. Your name is mentioned only once in the documentation of the White Fang, along with a picture of you when you were young at a Rally."

Blake's lips twitched at the memory. She knew what Weiss was referring to; it had been her second Rally. She'd gone to Mistral with her parents years ago. In fact, that was where she'd met Adam.

But now…

"It's definitely a big deal," Weiss went on. "In fact I think it's something you should get off your chest, now rather than later."

The hint was obvious, far too obvious for Weiss. She really wasn't in a good mood was she?

It was understandable though… out of all of them, Weiss was the only one that didn't seem to have some kind of major secret that could affect the team.

It looked like she was getting tired of them all.

But…

"I can't tell them."

"Why not?"

Blake bit her lip. "It's… it's not important."

Weiss didn't look impressed. "I'd say it's pretty damn important."

" _It doesn't matter!_ " Blake hissed. "It has no relevance to us as huntresses, no relevance at all to fighting Grimm _or_ the White Fang."

"Does it have any relevance to Yang?"

Blake shot her a confused look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The heiress scowled at her. "I'm no expert with relationships Blake, but even I know that something that important isn't something you hide. It _is_ important, and eventually Yang's going to find out anyway. Wouldn't it be better if it was from you?"

Blake was about to answer when the door suddenly opened and Yang walked in. she saw the spitting there a paused before looking as if to steel herself and grinning.

"Hey Blake, do you uh… do you wanna get out of here for a while?"

The Faunus blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"The… the two of us," The brawler went on, her real arm coming up it scratch the back oh her head. "I know this place on Patch… do you want to go get dinner, together I mean?"

Blake felt herself freeze, unsure what to do.

Dinner? Was… was that something coupl- people in relationships did?

She glanced at Weiss almost unconsciously and saw the pointed stare she got in return.

"Alright," she nodded. "Sure. We're going now right?"

"Yeah!" Yang nodded back, suddenly looked relieved at Blake's acceptance. Her eyes widened a second later though as she glanced at Weiss. "I mean, unless you have something you're doing. I don't want to bother you."

"Oh just go." The Heiress huffed with a roll of her eyes. "I'm sure Ruby is plenty capable of keeping me company."

Right as she said that there was a crash from upstairs. Their team leader must have heard somehow, because she came barrelling down the stared and tackled a startled Weiss.

"Yes!"

"Gah! What are you doing you dunce?!"

Ruby's only response was to shout "Video game night!"

"Why are you so handsy all of a sudden?!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Okay, breathe she just needed to relax and do what was natural.

Yang ran a hand through her carefully managed hair as she and Blake sat down at a table.

The Faunus looked around at the other patrons in mild interest, which gave Yang time to get her thoughts together.

Uncle Qrow had given her any advice he thought would help but for the most part it was stuff she already knew, he'd just help her get it in motion: first, find a place to talk, somewhere relaxing, somewhere they could both be comfortable. It was harder to get things going smoothly if the other person was on guard.

Yang hadn't been sure about that, but Qrow had assured her that people were _always_ on guard unless there was some kind of exception.

Friends, family, lovers still had things they wanted to hide if the situation wasn't right, she knew that already from Ruby but Qrow had accentuated it.

"This is a… nice place." Blake said uncertainly. "It's some kind of bar right? Feels quiet for one."

Yang let out a laugh. "Close, depending on how you look at it but not quite there. This is a pub, it serves drinks sure but it's more a place to have some good food with someone in a quiet atmosphere."

Blake looked surprised Yang would choose a place like this, and she could understand why being more of a party girl, but she could appreciate a place like this from time to time too. "It's nice." Blake said after a moment. "I've never been to a place like this before… we don't have them at home."

"Where's that?" Yang asked.

It was a mistake she found out a second later when Blake's lips thinned. The blonde suppressed a wince. Must have been a sensitive topic. Maybe it was, this was Blake after all, an ex-terrorist. Maybe home didn't bring back happy memories.

In an effort to distract she waved to someone, a waiter, who took her request for drinks and food. The Faunus was thankful for the Yang dropping the subject and listed her own desire for a meal.

The waiter nodded a second later and left them to their own devices.

Right, that meant she had a chance to carry out the next step.

Second, she had to find out what Blake liked.

No relationship worked unless two people knew each other's interests, what they enjoyed or didn't, what they wanted to do and how they spent their time.

The question was how to approach that.

Yang kicked herself internally. She was _Yang Xiao-Long_! She was supposed to be confident, flirty, charismatic. Why was this so hard?

No, no point in thinking like that. If this was gonna happen she needed to stop thinking and start doing.

"So," she said as the waiter returned with their drinks and the promise of food. "How are you liking the vacation from being constantly shot at so far?"

Blake let out a soft laugh as she took a sip from her glass. "It's definitely a step up. It's nice being somewhere so… safe. It's a plus that the people here aren't like the ones in Vale. Even the most tolerant there tend to either stare at Faunus, or try not to bother them and end up ignoring them entirely."

Yang shrugged, leaning back in her seat. "Yeah I guess it can feel a lot different here. I don't remember if I told you or not but Patch is kind of like the retirement island for Huntsman. This place is full of huntsmen or children, not much in between."

"I suppose it is," Blake agreed. "It becomes difficult to tell which ones are retired though. None of them look that old."

Yang gave her a funny look. "Well duh, they have aura."

Blake looked confused. "What has that got to do with it?"

Was… she serious? She was. Wasn't it common knowledge or- no, it wasn't, not really. The effect of aura taught to huntsmen was combat related. The basics were taught at places like signal, and Blake had never attended anything like that. And since she was part of the White Fang, Yang doubted any of the members were over the age of fifty.

"Aura has more than just an effect on how you fight," Yang explained for Blake's benefit. "it heals you remember? Well that doesn't just mean for wounds and major damage you take, it's fir your cells too. People with aura are less likely to get sick or develop illnesses unless they're the really bad kind. It goes even further though, skin regeneration and improved bodily robustness."

Yang raised her hands as if she was lecturing, and in a way she was, repeating what had been taught to her at a young age at school. She'd never been much of a study before Beacon, but her dad was a teacher, so she never missed a topic, and always scored high. Her written grades at Beacon showed that, how else could she afford to sleep in class?

"Basically aura keeps the skin looking young. Like Ozpin-" _Though now with what Yang knew about him, maybe there was something else to it_. "- he taught my dad and his whole team. But he still looks really young. He's in his… what? Fifties? Sixties maybe?"

"But he looks far younger." Blake murmured, eyes wide as she took in the information. This really was all new to her. She was like an awestruck child learning how big the world was.

And she had no idea.

Yang nodded. "Right. It also means people with aura live _longer_. I mean, it's hard to test sometimes, since most are in dangerous jobs like ours, but the lifespan could be stretched a lot while looking far younger."

The blonde reached for her own drink. "That's also the reason why people sometimes get confused when people mention aura as a passive thing: if you want to protect yourself from harm you need to call on it, but even when you're not it's still technically working in the background. Like uh… a standby mode on a computer, which is why some people can call on it as if it _were_ passive."

"That's… actually incredible." Blake smiled, looking at Yang with a new expression, something between a mix of shocked and impressed. "You know a lot about it don't you?"

Yang grinned. "Hey, I got the brains and the brawns, not to mention the bangin' body. Trust me kitten, I'm not as dumb as I look."

"…"

"…Wait."

Blake rolled her eyes but could help the smile that spread across her face. Their food came a second later, and gave Yang the opportunity to talk again.

"So what have you been doing this week?" she asked. "I mean, what is it you like doing when you have all this free time on your hands?"

"Reading," Blake answered simply. "There's a library in town, it has some good books."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you'd find your type of reading material here of all places."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The blonde laughed. "Oh you know, your books kinda seem a bit…raunchy."

The Faunus blushed at that, making Yang laugh louder. Blake shot her a mock glare and took a bit of her dish;

Salmon… fish, of course.

"I'll have you know it's artistic literature," she mumbled. "And besides, I don't just read that sort of stuff."

"Oh yeah? What else then?"

"Well… romance."

"Uh-huh."

"And adventure, and mystery and poetry."

Yang smirked. "Poetry?"

"Whenever I can yes. Something about it's just… wonderful to read."

"Isn't poetry supposed to be read aloud?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Yes well, if I could have found anyone to share my interest in poetry that might be possible." She shook her head. "What about you? Is there any genre you like or is reading not something you're interested in?"

Yang hummed. If Blake had asked that just a few weeks ago she might have said no. maybe even a few days ago… but after her time in the Odyssium, as short as it was so far, Yang didn't think she could say she didn't love that sort of thing with a straight face.

"I like… fairy tales," she said after a moment. "Or myths and legends. Really it doesn't matter what kind, it just depends on whether a story catches my attention."

The brawler gave a wink. "But hey, if you want I could always woo you with some poetry myself."

Again Blake looked away in embarrassment, and after a moment, Yang decided to let up. The two of them got back to their food, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere around them.

Or… Yang would have thought so, if it wasn't for the fact that every so often Blake was… twitch, or more like flinch and scratch at her left side and she'd frown for a moment before doing her best to hide it.

That didn't sit well with Yang. Blake thought she was Grimm, it was probably getting to her. She wanted nothing more than to tell her otherwise but…

Yang let her eyes flickered red, and take in Blake's form again.

It was… completely different. Her left side emanated a ghostly white light, ethereal almost, but not human.

Not alive.

Ruby had warned her, told her that she couldn't tell Blake the truth.

The brawler hadn't been happy about it, she'd almost just ignored her sister and done it anyway until Ruby broached the question.

If Blake was this bad at the thought that she was have Grimm, what would she do when she realised she was Undead?

That's what she was. Blake had _died_ under that mountain, and brought back to life.

How long had she been dead before Merlots experiment – whatever it was – brought her back.

How would that affect her psyche?

Yang didn't know, neither did Ruby. So she'd agreed, reluctantly albeit to keep quiet for now, if only because the truth might break her.

Blake had enough to worry about as it was.

For now… Yang just wanted her to feel safe.

And here on Patch was the best place for that.

* * *

…

…

* * *

It was hours later before they got back, the sun setting. Though it wasn't that far to walk, both of them were a little tipsy by the time they saw the house. Yang had to rely on Blake as a support lest she fall over.

How was that even fair? Blake was still graceful even when drunk.

Eh, it didn't matter, for the most part Yang's plan had worked, Blake was far more relaxed now than she had been the whole week. Hopefully that would demeanour would stay around.

Yang's thoughts were cut off as she heard shouting from the house.

The two of them shared a look and opened the front door to the living room.

"Die dammit!"

What they saw was… strange.

Ruby sat on the couch with a box of popcorn in her hands, while Zwei lay down beside her sleeping through the noise.

That noise being Weiss, with a headset on, mashing her scroll frantically in front of the TV.

Yang blinked.

"What is going on here?"

Ruby turned to them and grinned. "Oh hey guys. You two look like you had fun. don't worry about this," she spared Weis another look as she growled angrily at the screen. "I introduced Weiss to competitive online games."

"Fuck you I shot him first!"

Ruby snickered. "Weiss takes _everything_ seriously."

Yang laughed, then laughed harder when the Heiress devolved into a slew of curses. She fell onto the couch, as did Blake and laughed at Weiss' antics.

Ruby watched them all with a smile.

Team RWBY would spend the night together, simply as friends.

Suddenly Ruby's scroll suddenly buzzed.

She blinked, looking down at it.

She'd gotten a message from Cardin.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **First I'd like to apologise both for the delay on the chapter, and it's shortness. I'll be honest, this one was _hard_ to write. Romance isn't something I'm very good at writing, and I found it hard to get across the inexperience of all parties involved. Hopefully it doesn't come out as a slog to read, but the next one should hopefully make up for it a little, and then, onto the fun part.**

 **Hopefully you do enjoy this chapter and if you did, be sure to follow, favourite and review.**

 **On another note, comics, how do you feel on that sort of thing. For the last year and a half I've been practising my 'artistic abilites'. Obviously it's nothing to be amazed by, but if I was to adapt the chapter of this story into a comic what would you say to that?**

 **just something to think about.**

 **Anyway, that's all I've got for now.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	31. Patchwork: Part 3

"What is it?"

"Hm?" Yang blinked.

"What's with that look?" Ruby asked. "You've been making it since we got here.

The 'here' Ruby was referring to was Vale, in perhaps one of the more classy areas. It wasn't that late at night, people were still out on the street, enjoying late meals and the like as the moon began to climb.

The two huntresses were getting some odd looks from the more high-class individulas on this side of town. This was where Ruby had eaten with Cardin last time. Or atleast in the general area if she recalled correctly.

"It's nothin' really." Yang shrugged. "Just thinking… It's a little weired leaning that Cardin's part of so secret group."

"Tell me about it," the younger girl agreed. "I only found out at the end if last semester. We me up during a hunt."

"Wait what? You two went on a mission together?!"

She nodded. "Yeah. We went to the industrial district and cleared out a nest of feral goblins. They weren't too much trouble apart from the hobgoblins, but he managed to burn it down while I covered him."

"…You just revealed to me that there's goblins... I'm going to need a second to process that."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, just make sure to do that before we get there alright?"

The blonde nodded. "Right… but uh, where exactly is this meet up point anyway?"

Ruby checked her scroll. Cardiin had sent her a map of the district with a marker. They were less than a street away from it.

"Not far." She told her older sister. "I don't actually know what it is he wants though so be ready for anything."

Yang frowned. "You actually think this might be trouble?"

"Think so? No, but with the fact that they know I work for Ozpin they might be considering a few things I don't want to think about…"

They turned into an alleyway out of sight of passers-by. The marker was less than ten feet in front if them. "I trust Cardin though, if he was given an order like that, I think he'd be fair enough to stab me in the front instead of the back."

"How nice." A male voice groused from above. Yang's eyes snapped up to the black coated figure standing on a balcony railings as if it were the moist natural thing in the world. The trench coat wrapped around the front like some hybrid between medieval garment and badass assassin robes.

It was… pretty awesome if Yang had to admit it allowed.

Ruby was slower on the reaction, but only because she purposefully held herself back. When she did look up, it was with a nod of greeting.

The figure hummed and hopped down gracefully, taking the ten foot drop like a single step and landing like it was exactly that.

Cardin Winchester raised an eyebrow.

"Well at least you're here on time." He said, eyes flickering to the blonde. "Wasn't expecting you to bring company though."

Ruby shrugged. "I'm turning over a new leave you know including the family."

"Oh?"

"Ozpin doesn't know about it." she admitted then adding firmly. "I'd like it if you could keep it that way."

The tall man's eyes shined for a second before he laughed once. "Didn't think you of all people would be one to keep secrets form the guy. Can't say I'm upset about it to be honest though."

Ruby doubted anyone would be. Ozpin didn't have many friends. Just powerful ones.

"Well," he said, turning to her sister. "I suppose I should introduce myself properly."

Yang blinked as her extended a hand. "Cardin Winchester. Member of the Order of Vale. A pleasure to meet you."

The brawler took it, and after a moment laughed. "Yang Xiao-Long, Huntress extraordinaire and blonde bombshell at your service. Between the two of us, I'm still new at this, so don't mind me if I sound a little bit touristy okay?"

"Of course." He smiled.

Yang made a noise and he blinked. "What is it?"

She grinned. "Ah nothin' I was just thinking that if both of us were single, I might have called you hot."

"I… am single."

"That's not what I heard from Velvet~"

Yang wasn't sure if Cardin's lips twitched because he was holding back a frown or smile, but she'd take it as a win.

"Well alright then," he said after they let go of each other's hands. "I guess the two of you want to know why you're here then."

"That would be a good place to start." The reaper agreed.

"Well, it's nothing too bad, but it's good to see you both prepared." Was referring to the fact they were wearing their weapons, as well as the outfits they'd worn last time they'd gotten into trube in Vale. That had been when Yang had got into a fight with a mech.

Yang's rm was free though, and though Cardin gave it a look he didn't comment. He, along with the other students t Beacon had seen it the day before school ended. He probably had questions about it, but nothing overly important right now.

"basically it's a simple task of showing our faces. There's a caravan coming through this part of the Kingdom and the Order needs to register it's items as they pass through."

Yang was the one to ask. "Uh, for the uninitiated?"

"Oh," he said. "Right, well, a caravan is what it sounds like in the old sense of the word. A group of people will be skirting near the city border as they make their way around the continent. The Order usually sends a number of our own to make sure they're not selling anything dangerous or threatening, while buying what we can ourselves.

The older girl blinked. "So you s buy and sell with travellers… seems kind of… normal if you ask me."

"It would be for you," he agreed. "If you didn't count the fact that the people in the Caravan would be anything from Saytr's to Pixies to Spriggan's and dryads."

Yang choked, but Ruby managed to speak before her. "They manage to get this close to the border without being discovered?"

Cardin smirked. "Ozpin doesn't see everything, and with the Order working hard we make sure he doesn't see the innocent people just going about their business."

That was… nice. Ruby would be the first to admit she didn't know a lot of how magical society worked, but she know it was… different to what she was used to. The Order was helping what they considered people though, so it was a point in their books.

It was also another point for Cardin funny enough. If his Order personality was faked, then surely racist tendencies towards the Faunus would show towards things that were even further form humans.

But he seemed fine with it. more than that, he seemed to think it was an everyday occurrence.

Maybe it was for him.

"Wait a second!" Yang cried out. "I thought all of those things were extinct!"

"Not quiet." Cardin told her slowly, probably deciding whether or not he could trust her. She may not have been _working_ for Ozpin, but if he found out from her that the Order was taking such an active role to hide creatures from Ozpin's gaze there could be trouble.

He must have seen something though.

Something in Yang's eyes that screamed curiosity and an honest desire to know more.

They might be rare, really rare actually, but the Orders of Vale has worked hard for centuries to protect their numbers and cooperate with them whenever we can to keep their numbers steady.

Yang had already pulled out a small little notebook, but before Cardin could even look question what it might before he saw her scribbling down some sort of note. She was documenting what he was saying. He looked to Ruby for answers and she smiled.

"Yang's decided to find out as much as she can on Magic. We had a run in on our last mission that opened her eyes to all of this and she's wanted to collect as much as she can."

He accepted that answer and watched as Yang suddenly froze, turning to her sister with wide eyes.

"Did… you just make a pun?"

Ruby looked confused for moment before her eyes widened. "It was an accident!" she cried. "I swear."

The blonde wrapped her arms around the reaper and swooned about pride or something, and Cardin could only watch in bemusment.

"Okay then," he said. "Are ready to go? I'll lead you there and we can meet up with some of the other knights."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Knights? Pretty lofty name isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Maybe, but technically it's because members of the orders are actually _given_ knighthood by the elders after they've proven themselves enough. So, it's kind of earned."

"Eh, point."

Cardin rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'll lead you outside the walls. There's a specific path we need to take."

They sisters nodded, and followed the young man through the alley ways.

"So…" Yang mused. "What uh… what 'creatures' are extinct then? A I mean, there's like, a difference between the intelligent ones and not right?"

"There is." He said. "I'll be honest, I'm not a scribe, that sort of knowledge isn't something I'm specialised in. I _do_ know a few, but if you want more information you'd have to join us. Trade secrsts and all that."

The brawler raised an eyebrow. "What, you hiring?" she coughed as Ruby elbowed her in the side. "What?"

The younger girl glared at her. "Remember the part where keeping you involvement from Ozpin a secret was a priority?"

Yang tutted. "Relax Rubes, I'm just askin'"

Cardin laughed. "I don't know if I could help you anyways. The recruitment process is… complicated, and very, very selective."

"Figures."

He hummed in agreement. "I suppose I can tell you a few though, if you want that is."

Yang's book was already in hand.

The male huntsman in training laughed, looking up at the sky as they made their way through the closed off streets. "Lets see… well the ones we already went over are there; Saytr's, Pixies, Spriggan's and dryads, though they're what you'd call 'forest dwellers'. Goblins can be sentient, though we don't know what it is exactly that drives them feral in the first place. The ones we've asked don't seem to know either."

"I do."

Both of the more experienced members of the magical world turned to the blonde, who had a thoughtful look on her face, arms crossed in thought.

"You… do?"

She nodded. "It was something I got off Merlots notes. He studied Grimm a lot, but he figured out from some kind of ancient texts that it had something to do with magic. Like, too much or too little drove them crazy. For Goblins at least. He never got to test it out exactly so I could be wrong but…"

She trailed off, and as she looked to Cardin she saw something in his eyes.

He was… impressed.

Or something more.

"Alright then," he said. "I'll asked some of the scholars to test that out. Thanks."

"No problem. So, about the other sentient ones, you were saying."

"Right, well I talked about the forest dwellers, and apart from them there are three other species that aren't extinct: Selkie's and Harpies exist, though in smaller numbers, as well as spirits… though only a very small portion of our numbers can communicate with them."

"Why is that?" Yang asked.

He huffed, though not at them. "Because they're not physical. It's… hard to explain. Members of the order are normal people, we don't usually come with some innate ability of magic. It comes through intense training and patience."

He glanced at Ruby. "A few of the elders think the reason Ozpin recruited you is because of your eyes. I'll be honest, we don't know much, but we think they let you see spirits." He paused. "And judging from your lack of a reaction, you already know that… or there's something more to it."

Ruby and Yang shared a look, but Cardin just sighed. "You don't have to tell me, I'm here for your help, not to interrogate you… anyway, there are a lot more sentient creatures, though they're extinct now after The War."

Ruby blinked. "the war? You mean the war between kingdoms?"

"No… not that one. That's… another story, not something I can really talk about. Anyway, there were a lot humanity had to co-exist with, or at least tried to; like faeries, mermaids, beastmen, elves, vampires, dragons… and a few others I can't actually say."

"What? Why?"

"Because it's safer if nobody knew they existed."

"…"

He sighed. "We're almost there, come on."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"No way." Yang whispered.

They'd made it outside the barrier, after a secret passage within a secret passage. They were standing inside a little cave, or a cove of some kind, dropping down to a long winding path going both north and south, into the forest beyond.

There in front of them stood about a dozen other people, all dressed in the same apparel Cardin wore, each with a silver weapon in their side; from swords to staves to maces.

By Yang was focused on one of them in particular, who was staring back in just as much shock.

"Miltia?"

The girl usually dressed in red wore the black coat and high collar of an Order knight. She looked so different, even though she wasn't. on her wrists instead or her signature red claws, were long, curved, wicked looking silver ones.

"Son of a- what the hell are you doing here wrecker?!" the maybe-criminal glared at Cardin. "What is she doing here?"

He shrugged as he stepped past her and peered over the plateau. "Elder Mirark's Order's."

"Yeah, for the silver eyed girl not- _her._ "

"I came with." Yang interrupted, stepping up to the Malachite twin and staring her down.

The girl choked on whatever she had to say, but not because she was upset, but because she say Yang's arm.

"What… what the fuck happened to you?"

"I got a hair cut," Yang quipped. "What do you think happened?"

"I…" she cut herself off and growled in frustration. "Melanie can't know. You got that? You tell her and… just fuckin' don't okay?"

"Jeez okay, no need to get so worked up about it."

Another growl. "There is actually. I worked hard to keep this part of my life a secret. I don't need you spilling it to my sister, junior or any of the guys"

"And I won't" Yang promised.

The shorter girl didn't look like she believed her. "What are you even doing here, are you gonna tell me that?"

"I will, after you tell me what you're doing here."

Miltia scowled, crossing her arms. Cardin rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and answered for her.

"Knight Malachite was recruited by the order two years ago. The higher ups saw she had potential and was willing to make the city better… it also helped that she has contacts within the criminal underworld."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "huh, didn't think your order was the kind to recruit people on the other side of the law."

"The Order doesn't work the way you're thinking then." He grunted. "We don't care what side of the law you're on as long as you care about protecting this city."

Ruby blinked. "And… criminal's do?"

"Of course they do," Miltia scowled, turning to Yang. "Who is this girl anyway?"

The blonde put a hand on her hip as if challenging her. "My sister." Was her response.

The red malachite twin blinked, before groaning. She knew about Yang's… situation with her sister, or, at least her previous situation before Glenn.

"This just got a whole lot more complicated didn't it?" Miltia muttered to herself, before taking a breath and turning to the smaller girl. "Well for your information pipsqueak yes, even criminals care about the city. We have people we care about living here too. Even the most generic thug on the street has a family of some kind, you think they want their home in ruins?" she scoffed. "You and your littler group of do-gooders do the same work as us, just differently."

Ruby frowned. "Not from my experience. I've seen plenty of people who just want to destroy everything."

At that Miltia sneered, though Ruby got the feeling it wasn't at her. "Yeah, and we call _those_ people terrorists. Criminals like me take pride in what we do, but we can't _do_ anything in a pile of ruins. Terrorists are the ones who want to destroy, and the only people who want terrorists are the ones who want to tear this city apart."

"And that's where the Order comes in to stop it."

The four of them turned to the new voice, and almost immediately both Cardin and Miltia bowed.

It was a woman, wearing the same black attire as the knights, yet somehow gave off an air of superiority and authority that they lacked.

She had dark hair down to her shoulders and sharp hazel eyes. She was a good deal taller than either Ruby or Yang, older too, looking somewhere in her thirties with a long, thin silver sabre dangling from her hip. Even her smile gave off a feeling of confident control as she stopped before them, looking specifically at Ruby and Yang.

"Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long, it's a pleasure to meet you both." She said. "I am Elder Mirark, I'm here to oversee trade with the caravan, in case you're wondering. Though, I think you're more interested to know why you've been asked to be here."

The sisters shared a look.

"That did cross our minds yes." Ruby agreed, wary of the woman in front of her. She was _powerful_. Ruby could feel it, as if an invisible pressure warning her body of the individual in front of her… and yet, she didn't feel threatened. This… Mirark wasn't a threat to them specifically. Or at least that was the feeling she got.

The woman laughed, and the young girl had to admit she... had a nice laugh. It was soft, airy.

It made her wonder. What kind of person was this woman to be some kind of leader within the Order?

And moreover, why was Ozpin seemingly opposed to them?

"Well then I'll be frank with you; recently it came to my, and the Orders attention, that you aided knight Winchester in the extermination of a dangerous hive earlier this year."

"Oh yeah." The reaper blinked. "I remember that."

Mirark smiled. "I'm sure you do," she nodded to Cardin. "from Winchesters report you were a vital part of the operation, and even saved his life when the situation took an unexpected turn in terms of what he had been prepared to face alone."

The elder stepped over to the ledge. In the distance, tiny lights got closer and closer.

"the act was impressive, and one or two of the elders suggested recruiting you into the Order for it." She shrugged. "Though we realised such a thing would be difficult, seeing that you work for Ozpin."

Ruby winced at that, something the older woman caught, grinning.

"But from the looks of it you at least understand… well, him."

"He's not bad." She defended. "We… he's fighting to protect the world; his methods are just… too far for me sometimes."

Mirark closed her eyes and hummed. "I see. Well I suppose that's understandable. Make no mistake, the Oder has been at odds with him, but we do understand that we are _technically_ on the same side. So I won't hold it against you for working for him."

Her eyes flickered to the blonde, who listened to their conversation uncertainly.

"And what about you miss Xiao-Long?"

"E-eh?"

Again the woman smiled, perhaps amused by the girls confusion.

"Tell me, is there some kind of special attributes to that arm and leg of yours?"

"W-well I mean…" Yang stuttered. She wasn't sure why, but this woman's sudden interest in her was surprising. Ruby was the one working for Ozpin, she was just the tag along. Ruby gave her a nudge, to tell her she could relax a bit.

Instead of talking, Yang raised her golem-construct arm and let a tiny flame build in the palm of her hand.

Ruby stared at in, shocked and… awed.

Miltia and Cardin looked to be in a similar state, if not leaning a lot more to the shocked side of things.

The woman's eyes glinted. "A magi. Isn't that something? People like you are rare you know… very rare indeed."

She sighed. "The Elders would definitely what their hands on you… it's a shame you would be in danger."

Ruby stirred beside her. "Yang doesn't need to be a part of this, I don't want Ozpin knowing."

Yang might have argued, she was old enough to make her own decisions, older that her _little_ sister to be sure, but the genuine fear in Ruby's voice, not to mention the smile of Mirark's face stopped her.

"I understand. Truthfully as long as magic thrives I think it's fine if young Yang choses to stay out if all of this. I am interested in you instance to keep it from you superior however."

"…"

Mirark shrugged again. "It doesn't matter. Though, I will extend the offer. Yang, if you ever _do_ feel like you want to join the Order, we will accept you. People like you have talents that should be nurtured. Although."

The adult suddenly turned, calling over one of the other people where the same dark coats. This one looked a little different, if only because of the large bag on his back, and the belts and buckles that lined his body and filled with scrolls. Actual scrolls, as in paper.

"Scribe Spruce, would you hand over a novice class?"

He bowed. "Yes ma'am." He said, reaching around to the bag on his back and pulling out a hard, red-leatherback book. It had a circular symbol on it, something Ruby couldn't quite understand what it was."

He held it before Yang, who recognised the offer took it hesitantly.

"This is a novice's Grimoire." She chuckled. "And despite the similarities in naming conventions, is not Grimm related. It is a spell book of sorts, and should held you get a better grasp on what you can do in absence of the Order's guidance, at least at a beginners level."

Yang stared at the book with wide eyes, then stared at the woman before her as she cradled it in her arms. "Why… why are you giving me this."

Mirark hummed. "I'm not sure. Perhaps I see potential, perhaps I want to recruit you later on. But right now I just feel like helping a young magi." She raised her hand, as a flame engulfed it. Yang gasped as the woman smirked. "Us magi should stick together after all."

She flicked her wrist and the flame vanished. "Come now. There was another reason I called you hear." She gestured to the ledge and allowed Ruby and Yang to peer over it.

The stood frozen at what they saw:

It was…

By the gods it was a caravan.

As in, hundreds of people all traveling together. Some on horseback, some on feet and others in actual old-timey wooden caravans pulled by mounts.

Expect most of them weren't people.

Ruby couldn't even take them all in.

Goblins, Saytr's, Pixies, Spriggan's, Dryads centaurs and so many more. They were laughing, talking and treading with each other, and some of the Order members that had already made their way down.

"They purchase supplies from us." Mirark told them. "They can find food on their own but medicine, building materials and amenities are harder to come by when their existence is kept hidden from humanity. They have a few humans as you can see living among them but they are usually only capable of bartering with frontier towns further out because of it. Every so often they come to us, because we can help."

She smiled again. "Now then, just so you know, they do use lien as a currency, so why don't you explore the caravan, see if you can find anything nice for yourselves?"

Ruby looked up at her with wide eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

Mirark gazed roved over the caravan before her. "So that you know that we all have something we wish to protect, no matter our allegiances."

* * *

….

…

* * *

Mercury watched the car lights fly by below with a sort of slowness. Not that they were actually slow, but he was in a sort of lull, a state where the speeding traffic just… seemed slow.

He didn't really enjoy silence. Or, well he did, but for a long time, the silence was always a build up. His old man had been the type to get drunk and fester and when things got quiet…

Mercury knew things would get violence.

It was different now obviously. The old bastard was six feet under and he never had to worry about people like him again, but old habits died hard he'd come to realise. The fear was still there sometimes, creeping at the back of his mind that something bad was going to happen amidst the quiet.

He laughed to himself. He wasn't a kid anymore, but most people would probably think he needed therapy.

And speaking of people needing therapy.

The rooftop door opened behind him and he didn't even need to turn around to know who it was judging by the grumble.

"Hey Em," he grunted. "What's with the long face?"

The green haired thief scowled at him, but after a moment must have decided it was too mich effort to try and get into an argument with him.

He blinked. That was…

"What's wrong with you?"

She scoffed. "What do you think? I've had to deal with that… that freak."

"Oh." He winced. The 'freak' she was referring to was a Faunus with a nasty scorpion tail. Tyrian something, a complete psycho if he'd ever seen one.

"Yeah, _oh_." She grumbled. "I haven't gotten a good night sleep since he got here. I don't trust him. I keep getting this feeling that he's going to slit my throat in my sleep."

That… made sense. Even he wouldn't relax around the guy, and he didn't have trust issues like Emerald.

"There's something else bugging you though, right?"

Emerald sighed, leaning against the railing beside the silver-haired assassin and running a hand over her face.

"The plan's been changed. It just got a whole lot more… more."

He winced again, he knew exactly what she was talking about. With that Watts guy, and now two crazy Faunus there were more people wanting things to get… violent.

Cinder wanted violence sure, but even if she knew the city would have casualties, her focus was on Beacon. She'd planned it out meticulously, all the way down to directing Huntsmen away from the school and forcing them to protect the civilians.

The others weren't so keen on leaving the inhabitants of Vale out of it.

Taurus in particular disagreed.

"And Cinder's…" she sighed. "things are like this because Cinder was recognised at the CCT tower."

"By the red girl," Mercury hummed. "Her team went on a mission the day after and screwed Roman over right?"

Emerald nodded. "Right. I… talked to Cinder about it. I thought it might be a good idea to, you know, get rid of the kid."

"What she say?"

Em shook her head. "I've never been more afraid in my life."

"Seriously?"

"I thought she was gonna melt me right then and there." She shivered. "But…"

Mercury picked up on it almost instantly. "You still want to do something about her."

"Things _changed_ when the brat came into the picture. Thing got even more crazy and Cinder's been different. You've noticed it too right?"

He had. Cinder was different from anybody he'd ever met. She was hot, smoking hat, but she was deadly enough that he'd never try anything on fear of agonising death. But he was an assassin, and he appreciated the nuanced.

Cinder was strong, really strong, but even more than that she was clever, cunning, manipulative and prepared to do anything to get what she wanted with a calmness that was scary to see.

Or she had been. Ever since this 'Ruby' had talked to her Cinder was more…

Emotional. She was angrier, quicker to annoy and sometimes even brash. Like, even the way she talked was different, how she phrased her words.

She was just so… _different_.

"So what do you want to do about it?" he asked.

Emerald turned herself around on the railings, back top the edge as she looked to the seiver-haired assassin. "We need to find answers. There's something going on there and it's important. I- we need to know."

Mercury smirked. He could practically feel the jealousy. That was fine, this sounded like fun. They could rough the kid up and-

"So how well do you think you can play the 'nice guy' role?"

… Or… not.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss was woken unceremoniously in the morning with a loud rattle.

"Agh!" she cried, falling out of bed. Her face met the ground with a dull thud that her aura was so kind was to shield her from. She was still dizzy though, and glared up at the red hooded buffoon that was her team leader. To her right, Blake had also fallen out of bed from the same noise, and was glaring at Ruby with the same fervour she felt. It didn't help that- dear god! Weiss only say it out of the corner f her eye but seriously?!

 _Five in the morning?!_

If Ruby noticed their irritation, she ignored it with a bright smile.

"Up and attem' girls, team meeting outside in ten minutes!" and then she disappeared in a burst of rose petals.

Weiss palmed her faced tiredly. "Remind me why I haven't skewered the dunce yet?"

"Because no matter how small and innocent she looks she's a terrifying ball of cold rage." Blake answered easily, with a resigned acceptance to her situation as she got dressed.

Oh.. right, that was it. Weiss sighed, doing the same. Whatever this was, it better have been important.

She found out just a few minutes later, when she and Blake stepped outside, the sun hadn't even come up yet.

"Training?" Weiss echoed what her leader had just said. "Now?"

Ruby, Yang, Mr Xiao-Long and Mr Branwen all stood before them with a sort of awakens she and her Faunus companion lacked. Was it a thing gained by being born into a Huntsman family?

"That's right." Qrow laughed. "Tai and me are teachers, it's about time we did some teaching."

The blonder of the two adults crossed his arms. "I don't like having to say this, especially because it's true, but you four girls have gotten into _a lot_ of trouble, and if you're anything like we were when we were young, this won't be the end of it with all the time you have at Beacon. Yu need to be prepared."

Qrow nodded. "That's where we come in. "We have the whole summer to train you four, and by your glorious team leaders decision that's exactly what we're going to do. It's going to be intense, a nd you're going to feel like you're traversing the freezing pits of Hel the whole time you do it."

"But," Taiyang said when Weiss and Blake shared a nervous look. "When we're through, you'll be far stranger than you otherwise would have been. This is Huntsman training, the reall kind. If Beacon is the parameter for the level of training you do, we're going to triple that."

He smirked, and Weiss was struck by how differ it made him look, much more like yang.

"You have the Vytal festival coming up right? Let's make sure you're good enough to crush the completion."

"Get ready kids," Qrow grinned. "It's time you four were taught by two of the greatest Huntsman in Vale."

Ruby and yang grinned and despite themselves, Weis sand Blake shared another look, this one more excited than the last.

They'd been issued a challenge.

It was about time they rose to the occasion.

* * *

...

...

 **So there's a reason this chapter is a week late, so I'll explain that and then rant a little afterward.**

 **So, first off, my computer that I've done most of my work on, including these fics, a laptop of seven years, died last week. yep, just dies, shut off and became utterly unresponsive. so I had to get an entirely new one. on the upside, it's a big, beefy PC now, so I suppose all's good. the problem was transferring those files from the laptops hard drive. You can imagine the difficulty there. Second, on the new computer, it meant I had to install all sorts of program. One in particular being Microsoft word.**

 **A** **nd I just...** _WHAT!?_ **I got Office and all it's features years ago for like, £30. I bought it once and that was it for seven years, but when I lokoed it up this week I saw that it was £80 for a YEAR. A YEAR! FOR THE BASIC FEATURES!**

 **I just... what. Screw you Microsoft, I still had the disk, remember those? the ones that let you install it onto multiple PC's? well I still had two left!**

 **Also, in case it comes up, the software I usually use to find mistakes is absent for now because of the move also, so feel free to point them out if you see any and I'll be sure to fix them.**

 **Just... ugh. Here's the transitional chapters conclusion. get ready for Volume 3!**

 **H** **opefully my PC doesn't die on me this time.**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	32. Cooperation is Vytal: Part 1

The roaring of the crowd echoed through the walls, seeping into the colosseum's very skeleton.

The members of team Ruby were in their locker rooms, getting ready as Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck pumped up the crowd.

It was just the four of them, and things were quiet. Excitement threatened to bubble over, but they held it back for now.

Ruby checked her ammo, Weiss filled Myrtenaster with dust, Blake strapped Gambol Shroud onto her back, and Yang made sure Ember Celica was fastened onto her wrists tight.

The crowd cheered again, and the teachers began explaining the rules.

That was their cue.

* * *

...

…

* * *

"On your left!"

Yang barely got her arms up in time to block a kick blasted into her face and sent her crashing to the ground like a sack of bricks.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day Yang was acquainted with the taste of grass as her face made a dent in the ground and he groaned. She rolled over onto her back and glared up at the sky.

The bright rays of sunlight were taunting her, she was sure. Where did they get off being so warm and nice when she was getting her ass kicked?

Another groan escaped her as her obsidian draped over her eyes and she did her best to ignore her dads laugh as he stood above her.

Yang let out a huff and kicked herself back up onto her feet, massaging her shoulder as she straightened up.

Her dad practically slumped as she did so.

"Seriously?" he sighed. "We've been doing this for hours. How do you look as fresh as a daisy?"

She laughed, but chose not to answer. Instead looked towards the rest of her team.

Weiss was perhaps the most active right now; in that she was getting knocked around by Qrow. The heiress' face was flush and her breathing heavy as she fended off Qrow's harbinger with Myrtenaster. She was being pushed to her limit by Qrow but didn't complain once, which Yang had to admit wasn't easy.

Uncle Qrow's weapon was one of the hardest to get around, and he was so much better than any of them.

Yang grinned as she watched Weiss roll under a slash and lash out with her heel to the Huntsman's legs. She's picked it up from Qrow's constant thrashings and the blonde was positive Weiss' private tutors back home would have sneered at the tactic.

They might have also glowered at her state of dress, but Weiss had gotten past that remarkably quick.

She wasn't wearing her combat attire. None of them were in fact. The whole point of this training was that they worked with the bare basic of what they had, changing and growing from the roots. If that meant changing their outfits so be it, so in the spirit of that they'd all had to wear matching sportswear.

And yes, she called it sports where is only to appease Weiss.

She still laughed at the memory of the heiress' horror when they'd gone shopping for them and Weiss had seen…. Well, how cheap they were compared to what she would normally buy.

Yang thought that Weiss might have hit the revelation that she was pampered now, if how she'd acted recently was anything to go by.

Like, it had only been two weeks so far, but the blonde could already tell her family was having an… influence of Weiss.

Blake too obviously, but it wasn't as pronounced, just the Faunus girl being more vocal and stuff. She was still technically recovering from what happened, this whole thing was basically healing for her.

Weiss though?

"Son of a bitch!" Weiss growled as she was launched onto her back for the third time in under a minute. It didn't stop her momentum, and the heiress let it carry her backwards back onto her feet before lung'ing in again at her uncle with more ferocity than before.

Yeah… Weiss was _far_ more vulgar when she got worked up. Personally, Yang thought it was awesome. Weiss swore like a sailor and it was common for her to banter with the brawler a lot more when they were just having fun; watching TV, playing video games or sparing.

And, of course, she also fought a lot dirtier and was proud of it, judging by the way she elbowed Qrow in the face.

"Ow! Seriously?"

Yang laughed and turned to her dad. "We can take a break if you want old man."

He rolled his eyes and waved her off, not even deigning it with a response as she turned to jog over to Weiss. She didn't plan on interrupting the spar, so she circled around and over to the others.

Blake was currently in the middle of her sets, another hundred push-ups, with Ruby sitting crosslegged on her back and counting them out.

Conditioning was the name of the game for Blake. She needed to build her body up, especially her left side in order t match the intensity of what they were doing.

Still, Yang thought it was cute, especially the way Blake's ears moved forward and back as she pushed herself up and down.

She gave a little wave to Ruby as her sister noticed her approach and plopped down next to her as the younger girl got off of Blake, giving her a rest.

The Faunus dragged herself into a sitting position beside them a moment later and with a red face glared at her girlfriend.

"How?" she panted. "How have you not even broken a sweat yet? How is that fair?"

Yang smirked and gave a little shrug on badness. "What can I say kitten? I'm just that good."

Of course, Yang knew the actual reason. She knew that not too long ago, that same workout would have made even her tired. Her dad may have been what she considered past his prime (Though she was sure he would disagree) he was still far better conditioned that Yang was. Far stronger too.

At least before Glenn that was.

Yang's hand ran over her chest, over the thin scar right at its centre. The heart that wasn't her own, the heart that wasn't human beat steadily.

She hadn't been sure at first, despite Merlots words, but over the course of the weeks she'd noticed the difference.

Yang had been changed. She wasn't tired.

It wasn't like she was restless. She had no problems sleeping, but it was like, when she fought, when her blood rushed through her veins she felt _stronger_. Way stronger. Her stamina felt endless and she could hit harder than she'd ever done before.

Obviously she still felt fatigue, a few days ago she'd asked Ruby to help her make sure just out of curiosity. They'd done laps around the islands. After training Yang had circled the landmass again and again.

She'd dropped eventually, but not until the sun had been down for a long time.

She wasn't sure if she felt that was a good thing or not yet. While the extra mileage was appreciated, she thought it was a good idea to not feel invincible. She'd gotten in trouble for that already before.

Blake didn't know any of this though. She didn't know about Yang's transplant, nor about how she spent hours every night scouring through the Grimoire she'd been gifted, as well as the Odyssium every chance she got.

She didn't know though, so Yang just smiled and let Blake grumble about the unfairness of it all.

She did so, right until Weiss was knocked onto her back again, right in front of them. To her already massive credit, she tried to get up again, but her body wasn't having it, and she collapsed onto the ground again.

"You okay Weiss?"

"Ugh…"

"I think we should take that as a no." Ruby giggled.

"Don't know what you find so funny." Qrow smirked. "It's your turn, get up here.

"Please no!" Ruby groaned.

Despite her complaint the youngest of the team did stand up, Crescent Rose opening up before her and moving further to stand across from her Uncle.

What the supporting members of team RWBY watched of their glorious leader was a prompt butt-kicking, and Ruby being sent to the ground far too easy.

Weiss, after having caught her breath and taken a sitting position beside Yang, stared down at her partner.

"What was that?"

"Leave me alone." Ruby whined. "I suck when it comes to fighting people."

Yang blinked. "Um… what? Be serious Rubes, I've seen you in combat class. You're great, not to mention you take on thugs and Grimm like it's nothing."

The younger sister huffed as she sat up, rubbing the back of her neck where she'd fallen. "Yeah, but that's because on a pure skill level only one or two people in combat class come close to me, and I'm designed to fight the Grimm."

"Uh?" Weiss blinked.

"That's a bit arrogant of you don't you think?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow. "To say you're above everybody else in terms of skill? Surely you'd be even higher in terms of score if that was true."

This time it was Qrow who spoke. "That's where you're wrong kiddo."

The Faunus looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Qrow glanced over to Taiyang, who was walking towards them now. "You wanna take this one?"

"No, you go ahead. The blonde shrugged. "If you make any mistakes I'll correct them."

"Right." Qrow sighed, running a hand through his hair and sitting on a tree stump close by. (One he's cut down the day before) "Well kids, I guess it's important for you to know now, and it _is_ something of a teaching opportunity. Ruby, you listen too, no harm going over it again."

"yeah, yeah."

He rolled his eyes. "Kay, so I'll just be blunt to save time, but you should know that when it comes to a fight, skill isn't as applicable as you think it is."

The three girls looked confused by the statement, so he continued. "Listen, skill is good, it's great in fact, but you're always going to have someone better than you, and if skill is all you have when you go up against them then you're screwed."

Weiss frowned. Cleary she didn't like the idea of skill not being enough. Qrow wasn't bothered though. He just took a pause to drink from his flask before going again.

"Strength, speed, agility, intelligence, cunning and brutality: these are all things important in a fight. If someone's better than you, then maybe you're strong enough to make up the difference, or faster, or smarter or you just fight dirtier… but there's one thing that I think is the _most_ important."

He paused again. Yang rolled her eyes. "And that is?"

He glanced at all of them. "Compatibility."

Blake blinked. "And that means?"

"Ruby?" the older Huntsman promoted. The girl sighed, hoisting her weapon to stand up above her.

"Crescent Rose is an awesome weapon. She's deadly and blends with both my build and my semblance… but it isn't versatile, at least not for people."

"Right." Qrow nodded. "Ruby's scythe is good. It's one of the best weapons against Grimm, both up close and at range. The problem comes when she's against people."

"But again," Weiss argued. "Ruby hadn't had trouble with people in class before, let alone against people like the White Fang."

"That's because she's better than them." Qrow affirmed again. "Listen Ice Queen, I'm gonna lay it out straight for ya, I looked at the roster for your class this year and I know for a fact that Ruby's the most experienced out of all of you. She's the best too, but-" he said before they could argue again. "Ruby has a problem. You see, a scythe – and Crescent Rose as a whole – is a great weapon against Grimm like I said, because it's a mid-to-long ranged weapon."

"But it's not close ranged." He pressed, highlighting that specific sentence. "think about it, out of all the students in your class, how many don't have something in their weapon that lets them get up close and personal?"

They shared a look. None. None that they could think of. All three of them at something like that. None of them could think of a single weapon that didn't allow for close combat. Even longer ranged ones like Nora with her hammer or Neptune with his glaive were usable close up without much problem. A Scythe though…

"Even my weapon has close range." Qrow said. "Harbinger is a scythe like Ruby's, but it's a slugshot and a sword. It covers all three ranges. _So_ that puts Ruby at a disadvantage when up against people."

"Because almost everybody has some kind of close range style." Yang realised with wide eyes. "Ruby's fighting style and weapon just isn't compatible with others."

"Exactly." He nodded. "If Ruby was at the same skill level as others in her class, she'd lose ninety percent of the time. The thing is, she's better. Speed is great yeah, but even at baseline there's a huge skill gap between her and her opponents."

"But instead of trying to bridge the gap Ruby works at making it as large as possible." Weiss whispered, looking at the scenario anew. "She has to make sure she's so much better than other people, that even with their fighting style giving them the advantage it's not enough to beat her."

"Exactly." He grinned. Weiss went silent, a complicated look on her face as her eyes roamed over to her partner.

She looked away a second later.

Ruby didn't even notice, because Yang's arm was slung over her shoulder at that moment. "Heh, my sister's pretty awesome isn't she?"

"Cut it out." Ruby blushed, embarrassed even at the simplest of praise.

"Well there you have it." Qrow nodded. "For the crowds of punks you guys have thought that skill gap example the Ice Queen mentioned holds up too. Ruby, not to mention all of you, are just in a whole different league than them."

"Most of the time." Weiss mumbled. "I was almost beaten during our mission in Mountain Glenn. Ilia almost me."

"Again," the Huntsman pointed out. "Compatibility; her being a Faunus was the obvious advantages, where you had to rely on flashes of light in the cavers darkness she could see fine. She could also blend in _and_ her weapon was better in that situation than yours. You didn't have time to use any advanced techniques because her whip stopped you from making the distance you needed."

He shrugged. "You were probably better, even with her training she was young, maybe even your age. If you had something to work around some of your weaknesses I bet the situation wouldn't be the same."

He looked pointedly at all of them. "Remember, _compatibility._ You'll have the perfect time you see what I mean at the tournament. Some people might be weaker than you, but have the right abilities to beat you, while others might be stronger, but not be suited to fighting you." He glanced at Tai. "Anything you want to add?"

"No," the blonde laughed. "I think you got all of it."

"Damn straight."

"There's still a problem with all that though," Blake grumbled as she crossed her arms. "Like you said, there's always going to be someone better than us, and if compatibility is a big thing, but sometimes we still have to fight anyway. What are we supposed to do then?"

"Well," he said. "That's your job to find out isn't it? You're all going to be Huntresses one day, It'll be your prerogative to find ways to beat people even with the odds stacked against you."

"I think I have a few ideas for that." Weiss mumbled. "Should we get back to it?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang cracked her neck loudly as the made there way down the hall. In the distance was the light of the open coliseum, and with every step the crowd got louder and louder.

"You guys ready?"

"Of course," Weiss smirked. "I think it's about time anyway. The media has been talking about us quite a lot, we should show them how good we really are."

"Oh~ cockiness from Weiss." Ruby laughed. "I like it."

Yang glanced at her partner last.

Blake noticed. She looked down, fixing the cloak she'd long white coat she'd decided to borrow. It hid most of her arms and legs, and only on very close inspection would someone notice the pitch-black skin beneath.

"Ready." She nodded.

" _Ladies and gentlemen, the first battle of the Vytal festival begins now, and let's start off by greeting the first pair of teams. All the way from Haven academy; Team ARBN._

 _And, for our very own school here at Beacon-"_

Ruby bounced excitedly on her feet. "Guess that's our cue next!"

" _Team RWBY!"_

* * *

…

…

* * *

"What is it?" Ruby asked her partner as she peered over her shoulder.

"A diagram." Weiss hummed.

"Of… a knight?"

"It's… something my father dug up from the Schnee archives. These plans I mean. It's called Arma Gigas. Before I came to Beacon I had to fight it. That… was sort of like a test, whether or not I could be accepted there."

Weiss was half afraid that her partner would ask _why_ her father had sent something like this against her, but, Ruby being Ruby, she was instead focused on the design.

Honestly, Weiss had looked through the references of it in her family library recently, having requested a copy via CCT. There was an idea for a design of armour far more simple, yet pointed at the helm. However the one she had fought had adorned a rounded helm with two terrifying black sockets where spiralling white eyes had seeped through.

Not to mention the sword it had wielded had been less detailed, less defined and far more like a massive slab of steel

All in all, the version she'd combated had been… much more intimidating.

However…

"It was essentially a suit of specially designed armour used to trap possession Grimm in it and somehow bend them to our will."

"That's…" Ruby whispered. "You're telling me you family used to have like, an army of giant knights as its own personal army? That's so cool."

"I... suppose it is." Wiess admitted. "It's not clear where they came from or who came up with the idea, but when it was unearthed my father got to work on using it."

"Is it that what you're gonna do? Build one for yourself?"

"…Not quite."

* * *

…

…

* * *

They stepped onto the area floor. Ruby and yang stared wide-eyed at the massive crowds of people all around them. Hundreds, no, thousands all watching them. Weiss found a lot of amusement in that. She was used to the attention, but seeing it in such an innocent way from the two of them made her smile.

Blake watched it all nervously.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss stared at the scene before her, frozen like the ice she was usually named after. Ruby didn't know what to do, stiff in the same way, but no small amount of worry in her silver eyes… even as they bore into the… thing before her.

Yang couldn't take her eyes off it.

Blake was shaking, staring at where she had just been. They'd been practising with their semblances. Everything had been going fine.

Until Blake had tried to use a clone.

Her left side had _dragged_ her back. The clone that had formed didn't even last a second, splashing down in a puddle of… Thick. Wet. Tar.

The residue still dripped for Blakes left, the darkness of her Grimm-like skin writhing horrifically.

Blake could only stare at her hands. And then she looked up, scared.

"I…" she tried shakily. "I can't use my semblance."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake took a breath and shook her head. There hadn't been an incident like that in three weeks. She hadn't tried it in that time. She could still fight without it. She'd practised with that very idea in mind. She was fine.

She was fine.

They were at the centre of the stage now, team ABRN just across from them.

Blake couldn't tell; where they first years? Second years? Older? She didn't think so, judging by how they looked around at the crowd in awe too, though she couldn't be sure.

The Faunus did here best to analyse them.

Two male, two female. The guy with pink hair held a gun, so long range, though that could be a ploy. The girl with green hair, Reese was on some sort of… hoverboard? She was using gravity dust then. The other two looked fairly simple; a staff and… dagger maybe?

The leader, Arslan smiled. "So, first match of the tournament, excited?"

"You bet." Ruby grinned. "Ready to give em' a show."

The older girl laughed. The crowds around them were too far away, not to mention too loud to hear what they were saying. They probably wouldn't be able to hear them at all throughout the match, more likely relying on the professors for commentary.

"Uh, if you don't mind my saying," Arslan conversed casually while glancing at Ruby. "you… look a little young. That a normal thing for Beacon."

"No." she laughed, around them the stage began to change, one half rising into an icy battle scape, the other scorching hot magma. It wasn't really lava, but it would still do damage to their aura's. The whole arena was made of dust. "It's just me."

It gave them an advantage.

"That's pretty cool." The leader of team ARBN admitted as the timer signalling the beginning of the round began. "No hard feeling fighting someone so young right?"

"Right!"

Ruby smiled, but out of the corner of her eyes, she shared a look with her team.

They'd seen through it.

Team ARBN had their targets.

" _5… 4… 3… 2… 1..."_

" _Begin!"_

There was one more thing team RWBY had practised over the summer.

Before, they'd just never gotten around to it, but with all the free time they had?

"Freezerburn!"

It was the perfect chance for something Ruby had dubbed team attacks.

Yang was already slamming her fist into the ground, before the ice had appeared beneath her, but Weiss was just as prepared, and before the enemy team could react there was a blast of ice, in the centre of the arena.

They'd seen it at the beginning. Arslan had tried to hide it, but her eyes had flickered over to Yang more than once. She wanted to fight their resident brawler. If they'd done their research, then they knew she was strong. That meant Arslan was strong.

In a straight-up fight, Yang might have had to focus on Arslan enough to split herself off from the group.

But that would have been playing to their strengths.

Ruby and Blake dashed forward, zeroing in on a wide-eyed Arslan, who no doubt expected them to go for her more fragile teammates. They might have, but the terrain had changed that.

After all, it was about compatibility.

Blake fired off a few rounds from Gambol should as Ruby ran past, hooking the blade of her weapon around the other leaders arm and pulling the trigger.

It yanked her back, sending her tumbling but she managed to recover quickly.

Not quick enough though, because Blake had already swapped places with Ruby.

Arslan made to strike out, but was forced to instead shield her face as Ruby fired off a sniper round.

That tiny second where she lost visibility was when Blake moved in, cleaving at monks exposed stomach and bashing the pommel of her katana against her opponent's knee, giving her time to leap back out again.

The lone fighter might have shouted out a curse but it was lost in Blake's gunfire as Ruby charged in again, rose petals swirling behind her.

Across the field Weiss deflected a blow from Reese with a steady hand.

The green haired girl clearly hadn't expected to fight her. Or maybe she was hoping not to. Weiss hadn't decided on an opponent until two things had happened almost at the same time:

She'd seen Reese board.

And the area had been filled with dust.

Reese leapt off her board as Weiss stabbed at it, and for a moment she thought she might have actually sliced it in two, but then the gunslinger grabbed the two pieces and began firing.

Before Weiss' might have decided to defend, create a barrier of ice to block it.

" _Never cut off your vision when fighting an enemy faster than you,"_ Qrow had told her. _"Instead, focus on counterattacking, stop them from using their speed to their advantage and capitalise of whatever weakness they might have._ "

So instead, Weiss matched the hail of bullets with a wave of fire, cancelling it out and driving through.

Reese gasped and twisted her body in the air to avoid the flames. Weiss smirked.

She couldn't move as effectively in the air, and with her weapons activated instead of her boards it gave the heiress the perfect chance;

To change the battlefield.

Reese should have run.

Weiss' family after all, were known for dust, and she was a master of it.

There was an explosion to her right, and she smiled as Yang chased after her opponents.

The blonde grinned, ducking and diving through Nadir's shots. She'd guessed right, the guy didn't have any close range specialities. That was rare, and definitely a mistake. Yang moved in to destroy him as brutally as she could.

And she wanted it to look like that.

The idea was simple. If she took out Nadir, their team would be one member down and she could help the others. If that was the case, it was a success. The other option, was just as effective though, and it seemed to be the one they'd gone for. She ducked under Bolin's staff as she swiped at her and set a jab into his side with her left fist.

The fact was, Yang had forced their other member to defend their long ranged teammate, which in turn took the pressure off her own team.

As it was now, it was two on one.

It was two on Yang.

It was still bad odds for them.

It looks like they hadn't done _all_ their research.

Yang could take a hit, she always had been able to, but the thing was, when your body was toughened, so was your aura. They grew in tandem, and after their training, even Weiss, the most fragile of them all when it came to vitality, would be able to manage anything the two guys in front of her could ever hope to dish out.

Against her?

 _It tickled._

Her fist certainly didn't though, as she buried it into the staff wielders stomach and sent him flying back. To his credit he managed to right himself in the air and aimed his feet to the ground as he came back down.

Unfortunately for him, Yang wasn't the strength type he was used to. She wasn't slow like Arslan.

She was fast.

He was gifted that nice little titbit as she delivered an uppercut right where he landed and grinned as he pinwheeled upwards.

Yang didn't even wait to see him land. He wasn't out yet, but he was dazed, which gave her plenty of time to focus on the other one.

And judging by the way he swallowed, he knew it two.

Back with Ruby and Blake, they had managed to whittle her down to about half judging by the screen above, but now the Haven student was getting annoyed.

No, that wasn't quite right; she was getting knocked around, unable to even get a hit in against her much faster opponents and by the looks of it the rest of her team was doing just as badly. She was being made out to look like a joke.

She was pissed.

The red one blurred into a flurry of rose petals, actually _flying into the sky_ and peppering her with sniper shots from above.

She landed next to the Faunus far enough away from her that she couldn't follow without being practically erased by bullets.

"You know what to do?" The younger one grinned.

"Just give the word."

" _Black Thorn!"_

And then she was gone.

No, not gone. Arslan gasped as rose petals surrounded her. The girl wasn't gone. She was sprinting around her so fast she couldn't see her!

The wind picked up from the red Ruby's terrifying speed and she was getting faster, faster, Crescent Rose firing behind her to boost her even faster.

Wait, what about the other one?

Arslan's eyes snapped to the Faunus, but right at that moment Blake smirked and a mass of roses surrounded the dark-haired girl.

The close-quarters fighter gasped again as Blake disappeared, and the hurricane of roses was stained black.

Inside the hurricane, Ruby grinned.

She'd gotten the idea a while ago. When she'd managed to get free from that mutated Grimm in Mountain Glenn she'd used her semblance, but it had been different.

So she'd experimented.

Ruby could cloak herself in rose petals, and even split off from the main mass. To an outsider, it looked like she'd split into several pieces, where in reality she made decoys of the same mass and shape as her.

Her semblance had also improved in another aspect too:

She'd gotten faster, able to affect the battle around her more and most importantly.

She could use her semblance on other people. She could carry them and they still had full control, unaffected by the speed themselves.

Black thorn had been an attack thought up in lieu of that.

How it worked? Well.

Arslan soon found out when three masses of rose petals shot out from the hurricane walls, right towards her in three different directions. They crashed into her, empty of any people, but the force making her stumble back as the petals blinded her.

She didn't see the flurry of red and black until it was on top of her. And when it was,

It was like a _blender_.

Arslan cried out as Blake struck; Gambol Shroud slicing into her aura and insane speeds. The petals washed over her, and the black blades chipped away at every part of her body as they did so.

The girl was launched back, landing badly on her shoulder and scrambling to her feet.

"Stop running already!"

Ruby's response to that was to slam Crescent Rose into Arslan's stomach and for Blake to wrap her ribbon around the fighter's legs, immobilising her and sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Ragh!" she roared, lashing out as she fell. Ruby didn't manage to get away in time from the counter and was hit square in the chest. She was sent rocketing back and only managed to stay on her feet thanks to Blake catching her.

The younger girl winced and rubbed the place she'd been hit.

It wasn't too bad, her aura still over ninety percent. The big deal was that all that damage had been delivered in _one_ hit.

Arslan threw out a laugh and climbed to her feet.

"Alright then," she said. "It's time to turn this around."

"No," Ruby smirked. "It's time to finish it."

The leader of team ARBN blinked but confusion quickly gave way to shock when she caught the board in the corner of her eye.

"What!?"

All three of her teammate's names were greyed out. They'd all been eliminated. But that meant-

She didn't get time to finish that thought as a wall of ice shot up behind her, as well as to her left and right. Arslan swore as Weiss appeared on her right. She'd been boxed in!

"Well isn't this fun?" Another voice came, and Arslan snapped around to face the blonde who strolled up to her with relaxed ease. Had this one taken out bother her teammates?

She growled, and lashed out with a lightning-fast punch. She could still do this, at least if she could take down one or-

A strangled gasp left her lips as her eyes widened.

The brawler, Yang, hadn't dodged her attack, she hadn't even taken it.

She'd _caught_ it! In that strange right hand of her, she caught it in the palm of her hand!

And had wretched it down all the while looking like she didn't even feel the strain as Arslan struggled against it.

How strong was this girl?!

Yang grinned. "Well it looks like I've got this situation _in hand_."

Around her the other three girls groaned.

"Yang please."

"Don't embarrass us."

"You idiot."

The blonde shrugged. "Bah, everybody's a critic." And then delivered a punch so hard and fast into Arslan's chest she didn't register what had happened.

She did register the buzzer however, and the announcer declaring her as defeated.

She'd… lost?

She'd lost… to a pun?

* * *

…

…

* * *

"We rocked that fight!" Yang cheered, fist pumping the air as team RWBY made their way through the crowds of people visiting the festival stalls.

They were all in a good mood. They'd expected the fight to be one they could handle, but team ARBN just hadn't been prepared for them. Team RWB had been in control the whole time.

Weiss' self-satisfied smirk gave away her own thoughts on it.

"We were fantastic if I do say so myself."

"The doubles will be different." Blake warned. "It'll be two on two, and our opponents will definitely be better fighters. But," a smile spilled across her face. "I think we did pretty good this time."

"Oh yeah!" Ruby laughed. "Did that training pay off or what?"

Weiss nodded. It had. Though that wasn't all of it.

Team RWBY had fought people many times already; from criminals to terrorists and upperclassmen in training. They'd gone on two missions that she was positive no other teams would have experienced for a good few years yet. Yes, mountain Glenn had been awful, but she knew it had done something more to them than just what could be seen on the outside.

It had broken through a wall for all of them, and because if it, they'd improved in leaps and bounds.

ARBN hadn't been a bad team, and individually they were skilled.

But they didn't have the experience they did, and Weiss was sure, they were just on another level.

Though... yes, getting knocked around by Qrow over the summer had definitely sped things up, but she 'd never admit it. The man was insufferably smug when he received even the tiniest amount of praise.

At that moment Ruby's stomach growled. Weiss rolled her eyes as the younger girl blushed. "Maybe we should find somewhere to eat before our team leader turns on us."

" _Weiss!"_

Yang laughed. "Sounds good, I saw a place further on that looked good. Wanna eat there?"

"Sure," the Heiress shrugged. "I'll pay."

"Yay!" Ruby mock-cheered. "Weiss' money is the best!"

"Oh really?" Weiss hummed. "Is that what's been attracting you people? Maybe I should give it all away. Maybe I'd get some peace an quiet for once."

"Pft, yeah right," The younger girl said. "You can't get rid of us that easily. We're friends now, you're stuck with us."

"I suppose that's true," the Schnee admitted, before a smile spread across her face. "You're right Ruby, you've grown on me."

"Yes!"

"Like a fungus."

"Aw…"

Blake rolled her eyes at the antics of the pair and laughed. Weiss caught it, and could tell what she was thinking just by the mirth in her eyes.

Really, the two of them should never have gotten along. Even more than the difference of Weiss being a Schnee and Blake a Faunus (a few decades of hatred between them that was nothing more than a distant past for the two of them) Ruby was just so exuberant in terms of her demeanour, and her personality, was almost definitely the opposite of everything a member of the Schnee line _should_ have looked for in an acquaintance.

But, she'd thought of it like that hadn't she? An 'acquaintance' was the word she'd used.

Her father had introduced her to people throughout her life; as business partners, hairs or potential suitors. She'd always been polite with them, like a good, obedient little girl. As she'd gotten older, more rebellious, things had changed slowly. Weiss had started to realise that people didn't care about her. They cared about the Schnee name.

She knew people, but she wasn't friends with them.

Weiss glanced at Ruby as the girl in red clutched at her arm, smiling and laughing.

Yes… Ruby didn't care about her family name. Neither did Yang, or even Blake.

They saw her as her. She was Weiss.

They were her real friends.

A content smile split her lips.

Yeah… it was just another reminder… her team. They were the best thing that had happened to her.

She shook her head. Now wasn't the time for sappy feelings. Now was the time to eat!

"There it is." Yang said, pointing to a stall over to the side. Noodles was it? Alright then.

The made their way over to it and sat down on the chairs laid out. Yang made a motion at the man there who nodded and made his way to the back to get their meals.

Weiss noticed Ruby's eyes narrow.

She nudged her teammate. "What is it?"

"I dunno." Ruby said. "I just… I recognise that guy from somewhere."

Before she could ask more there was a blur as the old man came back out, massive bowls of noodles landed in front of them. (One with fish in them for Blake, who practically drooled at the sight.)

"Thank you." Weiss snooded. "How much do I owe you?"

"Hey guys."

They turned to the voice of a familiar blond.

Though there were more than even they expected:

Team JNPR was there, but so were Cardin – who sent Ruby and Yang in particular a nod – and Coco who smirked and waved at them.

"Hey first years." She smirked. "Enjoying your win?"

"You bet!" Yang grinned. "The first win for Beacon. You guys better keep it up."

Coco laughed. "Oh I plan to, can't let you get all the glory."

"Please, you can have it all," Weiss scoffed. "It would make things far easier on me."

"What?" Cardin asked. "Are you of all people hating the spotlight now?"

"Ugh, not the spotlight," she groaned. "Just the media."

"Ozpin told us about a reporter looking to interview us." Ruby explained for their benefit. "After the news about Mountain Glenn got out people started hearing our names." It had died out recently. People lived on twenty-four-hour news cycles, but even so it was a big deal, and one in particular had been persistent.

"Apparently we were supposed to have it last week with Lisa Lavender, but I asked Ozpin to hold it off a bit longer."

"I can understand that," Pyrrha agreed with a sympathetic nod. "Reporters don't usually understand, but I can see why you wouldn't want to relive those memories."

"Yeah, yeah you two can cry about it over some food." Coco grinned, pulling up a chair with the others. "You're payin' right Schnee?"

The heiress' answer was to pull out her credit card and hand it to the owner.

"You know, I may oppose the current Schnee name," Blake admitted, licking her lips as she eyed the fish in front of her. "But I can appreciate their money."

And right as she said that, Weiss' card came flying back. Pyrrha eeped as it embedded itself dangerously next to Weiss' hand.

"W-what?!" the snow-haired girl cried. "What is the meaning of-" she was cut off as she saw behind the old man, big red letters:

Declined.

"W-what?" she whispered.

Her teammates shot her a worried look.

But… I…" Weiss' head suddenly whipped left, where she saw everyone looking at her, some with worry, others with sympathy and some confusion.

She felt herself wilt in embarrassment.

Ruby bit her lip.

"Perhaps," Pyrrha interjected. "Perhaps I could pay. I have plenty of lien to spare."

"I guess I could too." Coco offered. "We'll split."

"Sorry." Weiss mumbled, the embarrassment seeping into her voice as she looked down.

"So… anyway," Jaune said, trying to _ever_ so gracefully move away from the awkward situation. He scratched the back of his head. "We're up next. After seeing your fight I'm kinda nervous. I think I might make a fool out of myself in front of so many people."

"You will be fine Jaune," Ren assure him. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Yeah!" Nora laughed. "Jaune's gotten really good, especially over the summer. I can't wait for you guys to see our fearless leader in action."

The blond coughed at the praise. "I'm not _that_ good."

"No, sparkies right." Cardin agreed, sending an approving nod Jaune's way. You've been practising a lot. Russel and the guys would agree with me if they were here. As long as you don't jump headfirst out of the ring you'll be fine."

"Aw~!" Nora cheered, wrapping an arm around Cardin's broad shoulders. "That's so nice of you Cardy! To think I planned on breaking your legs."

"You… what?"

They laughed as Nora continued her antics.

As they eat, Coco spoke up.

"So, first years, don't think I'm here to say hi. We got something we need to do."

"Oh yeah?" Jaune asked. "What's that?"

"Party hard obviously." Coco grinned. "All of us, CVFY, JNPR, CRDL and RWBY are gonna get wasted."

"Hell yeah!" Yang cheered.

"I don't know," Jaune mused, though there was a tiny smile on his face, "I don't think someone as dainty as the Ice Queen could handle it."

Of course, because of the fact that the teams consisted of Nora, Wuby and Yang (Basically children) as well as from the good mood, there was a cacophony of 'ooh' and 'ahs' from the peanut gallery.

"Bite me Arc."

"Oh so cold." He snarked. "I'd tell you to cool off but I'd be afraid you'd turn into an ice cube."

Weiss baulked and turned to his partner, who was her giggling behind her hand. "When did Jaune turn into a female version of Yang with all the awful jokes included?"

"Hey!" the brawler squawked.

Pyrrha smiled and shook her head. "Whatever do you mean Weiss? Don't be so cold."

The heiress' eyes narrowed. "What's going on? What are you doing?"

"Oh~" Nora giggled. "No need to be so frosty."

" _What?"_

"Yes, just _chill_ out Weiss."

"…"

Everybody turned to Ren, who blinked suddenly at the stares he got. "What? I can do it too."

"I know you!" Ruby suddenly yelled out. It was her turn to receive stares, though she ignored them in favour of pointing at the old man behind the stalls.

"You're the guy who owns Dust till Dawn. I saved your shop from those robbers!"

Ruby was about to pester the old man, probably asking him why a dust store owner was suddenly selling noodles when a loudspeaker sounded.

" _Would team JNPR report to the stadium. Now!"_

"Welp," Jaune smiled. "Wish us luck."

They waved as the four got up and left, and soon after team RWBY did the same. "Come on," Weiss said. "We should watch their fight and support them."

Blake smirked. "And definitely not to spy on the competition right?"

The Heiress crossed her arms. "I've got nothing to hide."

They laughed, rushing to follow after JNPR in time to see their fight, Cardin and Coco waving them off.

And, up above, all the way in the sky.

A raven watched them with crimson eyes.

...

...

 **First round of the Vytal festival is underway!**

 **Now, I know that some of you were looking forward to a training arc, or at least a few chapters along those lines. but I felt it would be better to show you the results of the training as they happened. You can't really get an 'oh wow' moment when a character reveals their abilities to people when you as a reader already know what they are.**

 **So, I'm going this way, hopefully it worked out.**

 **And, speaking of things working out how was the fight? I'm trying something a little new, that being splitting between fights if they happened at the same time to not only draw them out but also to give them the feel of being more heavy or important. Did it work? Let me know.**

 **Also Have I mentioned how much I love Shirow Miwa's art? I think I have but I'll say it again. I love it, and for reference of the distinction I made on the Arma Gigas, look to his drawing of it. it should be easy enough to find online.**

 **Damn I love his art. I _wish_ I could be that good.**

 **I've got a few more things I want to talk about, but I'll save them for next chapter, once I've composed it in a way that makes sense.**

 **Other than that, what did you think?**

 **Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know, tell me what you think.**

 **And of course if you _did_ like it, be sure to follow, favourite and review. It lets me know I'm on the right track and I always love reading reviews, I do read them.**

 **That's all I've got for now, things are about to get heavy, it is Volume 3 after all.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	33. Cooperation is Vytal: Part 2

"You want me to… what?"

Weiss bit her lip. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to explain this to her partner, but it was _important_ that she did.

"I need you to… to do that… _thing_. You know, where you become… almost like a different person."

The look of confusion she got in return wasn't comforting. Weiss sighed and looked away. Not many people paid attention to them as they passed by, more focused on the ships coming in from the docks on the cliff edge.

That might also be due to the fact that Beacon was mostly empty, Amity having attracted the majority of people. Team JNPR's fight had come and gone with the winner being obvious. Pyrrha was a champion fighter, and Jaune 's excellent leadership as well as Ren and Nora's teamwork was enough to lead them to victory.

Weiss had enjoyed the fight thoroughly, and they'd even met a pair that seemed friendly enough.

They'd introduced themselves as Emerald and Mercury. Yang had mentioned something about remembering them and offering them a seat beside them during the fight.

Weiss like them at least. The silver-haired teen seemed perhaps a little overly-nice, and Emerald was particularly snarky but she found it amusing, and they were respectful towards her partner despite her age, and maybe a little bit curious of the younger girl, asking plenty of questions without being rude about.

Though she favoured Emerald in particular, if only because she seemed practically abhorrent to even the idea of Yang's puns.

That was a point in Weiss' books.

However, SSSN's fight had been next and Weiss hadn't much-vested interest in it, so had simply left. Yang and Blake had decided to stay behind if only to cheer them on, and the heiress had managed to convince Ruby to come with her for a very specific reason.

Winter was coming.

…Ruby had immediately contradicted that by saying no, it as Fall before Weiss had groaned and explained she had been referring to her sister, who would be arriving at Beacon today.

That was where they were off to now. To greet her.

Weiss was excited to see her sister. It had been almost a year, in fact she hadn't seen Winter since before she'd left for Beacon. Now that she was apart of a team (the best team in Beacon if she was to speak her personal opinion) she wanted to formally introduce her team leader and partner to Winter.

Which lead to her current predicament.

"Don't take this the wrong way Ruby," she tired. "you're a wonderful individual that I enjoy spending time with."

"Uh-huh."

"it's just that… your usually excitable and dorky self-"

"Hey!"

"might not be as endearing to my sister as it was to me."

"You hated it for weeks."

"And it is because of that you need to understand," she pressed on, choosing to ignore Ruby's constant retorts. "Winter is a professional. She's a highly trained, traditional specialist operative serving under Ironwood. She will be serious, no-nonsense."

Wiess looked Ruby up and down. "So… she might not be as… assured of your ability, being that you were moved up by two years."

"Wouldn't it just be an example of how I'm good enough to keep up with everybody else at the very least?"

"Winter told me she prefers actually proof of someone actions before she accepts them rather than the supposed merits they receive… I wasn't sure what that meant at the time."

Now though, she could understand at least a little bit of whether sister meant.

It had ironically enough been directed at Weiss herself; that her last name was not what she should base her options on, that the Schnee name didn't equate to talent or skill and that there would be people who proved themselves far more than her if she thought herself superior.

It had taken her a while to realise that, and in the beginning she had been the perfect example of it when she'd judged her teammates.

Ruby as immature and unfit to lead, Blake as a coward and a criminal or even Yang as an ignorant brute and an idiot.

She'd been _so_ wrong about them.

And now she couldn't even picture a life without them in it.

Was that strange? Maybe she could ask Winter that.

A nudge took her out of her thoughts and she turned to an expecting Ruby.

"So?" the young leader asked. "What do you want me to do then?"

"I'm sorry?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You said you wanted me to do a 'thing' whatever that means. You still haven't explained exactly what that is yet."

Oh… right. Where had her mind gone that she'd forgotten what they were talking about. She shook her head. Back to the subject at hand.

"It's… it's something I've seen you do before you change how you act almost completely. You act all…" She fought for the right words but could find ones exactly describing what she meant but ultimately failed. "Smooth? You're more relaxed and mature."

"…Really?"

Weiss blinked. "Yes really, why."

"Weiss you do realise that's my-" Ruby sighed. "you know what, never mind. Fine."

And just like that before her Ruby _changed_.

Her entire posture shifted, becoming more relaxed, more confident as she leaned back with her shoulders loose at her side and a smirk akin to Qrow's made its way onto her face.

But it was Ruby's lower half that told Wiess what she needed to know. The placement of her feet, the tensing of her legs. Ruby was coiling like a spring, ready to leap into action at a moments notice.

Her body was prepared for threats, and although Weiss knew there would be no danger of violence, the very sight of Ruby like this gave off a… feeling.

"Is this good enough for you?"

"R-right," Weiss cleared her throat suddenly. "Yes, that's fine. "L-lets go and see her then."

The heiress led would have led the way, but at that moment, a certain ship came into their sights. It was huge, bigger than any Valean bullheads and certainly bigger than the standard Atlesian Dropships.

The distinctive four wings and banner gave it away though, and Weiss couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

It docked carefully and a ramp descended from below. On it, there were half a dozen pristine white robots she hadn't seen before wielding rifles, and beside them actual men and women in body armour.

And in the centre a women with the same white hair as her, tied up in a bun and draping across one side. The white and blue coat the signature uniform of the Atlesian Specialists and a sabre hanging from her hip.

"Winter!" she called out.

She ran over, Ruby following behind as she did so. She came up short however as Winter looked past them, to Beacon with a critical eye.

"It's been… a long time since I've been to Beacon." Her sister said. "It feels… different. I suppose that could be because of the diversity Amity has brought… like a convergence of the civilised world. Befit with its own problems most likely.

That was… one way to put it. Ruby shot a confused look towards Weiss, her white-haired partner caught the look and coughed into her hand.

"So Winter, what is it you're here for? Did you come to see the tournament?"

Winter shook her head. "That information is classified. The general has ordered me here. that is all I will say."

"O-oh. Then… how long will you be here?"

Winter narrowed her eyes at her sister in warning. "However long I am needed. My apologise Weiss but it is not something I can discuss with people Ironwood has not entrusted."

"Yeah well," Ruby scoffed light-heartedly. "I think Ironwood trusts us fine thanks."

Weiss stiffened beside her as the specialist gaze snapped to Ruby.

Her voice was icy. "And just _what_ are you referring to?"

Ruby just shot her a smirk. Weiss had wanted her to take on the persona of Ozpin's eye. if that was the case… well, Winter was in for a shock when she realised Ruby _outranked her_ , though she'd keep that a secret for now.

"T-this is my partner, Ruby Rose."

The older of the Schnee's didn't respond right away, eyes roaming up and down Ruby's form the reaper didn't flinch older the cold look, instead flashing a smile she knew was reminiscent of her uncles.

Winter's eyes narrowed. She recognised it.

Ruby's smirk stretched wider. She knew Qrow then? That could mean more than she let on. Had Ironwood let her into his circle? Did she know about the maidens?

Probably not, or she'd have reacted differently to Ruby… but it was still something the reaper stored away in her mind.

"Yes…" Winter groused. "I have heard about you Miss Ruby Rose. Weiss informed me of you at the beginning of the year."

"Did she now?" Ruby glanced at her partner, who flushed in embarrassment.

"I-I may have been too quick to judge in the beginning."

The younger girl raised an eyebrow. " _Really?_ To think that my partner was writing home saying mean things about me."

"I-"

Ruby rolled her eyes and nudged the heiress gently. "I'm kidding Weiss. Even I know I was a crappy teammate in the beginning. You don't have to feel bad for saying it."

"We're better now though." Weiss rushed to assure, bother her partner and her sister. "All of us are. Ruby is an excellent leader."

"I see." Winter clearly didn't. "I will ask again since I was not given a sufficient answer last time. What do you mean General Ironwood trusts you?"

Instead of answering, Ruby simply pointed at the medal decorating her chest, flicking it once to shine in the sunlight. Winter's eyes zeroed in on it, shock clearly written on her face. They flickered to Weiss, and that shock became even more prevalent as she realised the younger Schnee donned the same.

"You didn't hear?" Ruby asked. "The General gifted these to our team as rewards for our service. Sure it's not an actual _rank_ in the military, but he knows that we've been through and that if it has something to do with a particular former activist group we're already in deep."

"I…" Winter swallowed, forcing her features back into something more militaristic and calm. "I see. I was not made aware of this. I'm afraid I have not been able to keep myself informed with my workload piling up recently."

She looked away from Ruby. "My… apologise." It sounded like it was dragged out.

Ruby blinked. Sure she wasn't exactly being formal but what was making Weiss' sister so… hostile towards her? Had she done something wrong?

"A-anyway," Weiss coughed. "Ruby is my team leader as I've mentioned before, and I feel that with her leadership we have an excellent chance of winning the tournament."

Winter hummed. "Well… that is certainly a bout of confidence from you Weiss… now that I think about it, I _do_ have some time before I must conduct my business with the General. Perhaps the… two of you could show me to your living space."

Weiss practically beamed. "Of course!" she caught herself. "I mean, I'm sure our teammates wouldn't mind if u showed you around, right Ruby?"

"Sure why not." The younger girl shrugged. "Unless you touch Yang's shampoo you shouldn't have too much of a problem."

Wiess laughed, though coughed when Winter sent her a questioning look.

"I-It's an inside joke, don't mind it Winter."

The specialist didn't answer, or if she was about to she was taking an uncomfortably long amount of time.

Ruby winced and decided that she should probably do her partnerly duty and taketh heat of Weiss.

"So!" she chirped as they walked. "What's it like in Atlas being a Specialist? Or being in Atlas in general, I've never been."

"It's cold." Was the response, though when she saw Ruby flinch she sighed. "Forgive me Miss Rose, I don't mean to come off as frigid. It has been a long journey."

"Oh don't worry," Ruby said. "I know how it can feel sometimes after travelling a lot."

"Do you now?"

"Oh yeah, ya see-"

Ruby was cut off by a terrible screech of metal.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Cinder took a breath.

The last few days had been too much. Salem's generals had converged in Vale and plans had been set in motion to take down Beacon.

A new, more destructive plan than anything Cinder had come up with.

A child holding his mother's hand passed her. The small one laughed and giggled as they pointed out some attraction the festival had brought.

Cinder took a breath. She'd needed to think, needed to compose her thoughts.

So she took a walk.

She'd been lucky. Even as someone definitely on the wrong side of the law no one knew her face yet. She'd not been caught, never been in a situation to be caught. The only one who knew her face, the only one who'd seen her was Ruby and Qrow.

Her hands tightened into fists as she walked a little bit faster.

Dammit, she needed to stop thinking about them!

She shook her head. She'd had everything planned out and it had all been ruined at the CCT.

Her cover had been blown and now she was forced to sit on the sidelines as Watts, Taurus and that psychotic excuse for Funus took over the reigns.

Her plan had been perfect! It yes it had been destructive but it had been targeted! Beacon had been the only target, everything else had been set up as to distract her foes. The city of Vale would have been left mostly unharmed, at least giving people enough time to evacuate it.

Now it was to be ravaged along with everything else.

Not even the Black Queen virus that she'd lost her cover for in the first place could be used, since the Breach hadn't even happened. Ironwood had called back his robotic troops, now all situated on the outskirts of the city instead. What was worse, the defences that were in use were living, breathing people. Human Atlesian soldiers, and dozens of huntsmen hired Beacons headmaster.

Cinder was not adverse to killing. She held no guilt or regret for murder. To her, even as a child the act of taking someone life had been justifiable in the name of her goals. Be that obtaining power or protecting Ruby and Qrow.

…And now she was back on them again.

She stopped in front of a store window, looking at her reflecting in it.

Yes, she was fine with taking lives for such reasons. What she detested was wastefulness. Cinder wasn't insane like Tyrion, an extremist like Adam or… whatever Watts was. She had always carefully planned out her tactics to take the path of least resistance and limit destruction.

She didn't like killing for no reason.

And now that was exactly what she was expected to do.

Heat flared in her palms, the half of the maiden power she had flaring to life. The feeling soothed her. Calmed her.

But it didn't stop the questions in her mind.

What would happen? What would happen if she had to face Ruby again?

She knew what the child was like. she was a hero. No matter what she said or thoughts Ruby would always protect the innocent, always want to fight against the evil that was Salem.

Would Cinder have to fight her? Would she have to kill her?

Could she even do that?

And for as much as the drunken bastard irritated her sometimes, Qrow was still important to her.

He was like… well, Ruby always called him Uncle but to her?

Perhaps it was something different.

And he would be there too.

Qrow was loyal to Ozpin, and would defend Beacon no matter what.

She ran a hand through her hair.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

Beacon was meant to be destroyed, the maidens powers taken, the Relic found and then she was to leave.

Leave the city intact, leave its defenders alive. Leave a spar of hope for them to rise anew. Now everything was to be destroyed… And… Ruby would be… No, she had to see this through.

"What am I supposed to do?" she whispered to herself. No answer came from her reflection, except for the glow of the maidens power.

She closed her eyes.

Her goals were everything. She would take the full powers of the maiden, nothing else mattered.

Nothing.

No one.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Winter narrowed her eyes at the sight in front of her.

The Atlesian Knights had been decimated, torn limb from limb and left twitching and discarded on the ground.

And before them, a drunken man stumbling around.

He glared at her with red eyes and spat to the side.

"Look at that, the trash of Atlas comes crawlin' into Beacon."

His voice grated on her ears but she remained calm. "Do you know what you just did? Attacking Atlas military property is a crime."

The man barked out a laugh that made her grit her teeth. "Oh that's rich, you talking about crimes. Hey, while you're at it, why don't you ask his boss why he has more men marching around in the city? Sounds to me like he's getting a little too into controlling the kingdom."

"If you haven't noticed those are men down there, not machines." Winter shot back. This… fool, had no right to berate the General. "I'd have you watch your tongue when you speak of the men and women protecting this city."

"No, you'd be pissed if I told the people what was really happening, that your boss is grabbing at power and turning his back on Ozpin, but hey you would know all about turning your back on the people for your own selfish desires right? You're a Schnee after all."

Winter's lips peeled back into a snarl as her hand flew to her sabre. "You son of a-"

She froze, though not by an attack or some physical force, but the sight of the red-caped huntress appearing beside Qrow _and pulling him down by his ear!_

"What are you doing?!" Ruby hissed through gritted teeth. "Stop causing a scene!"

Winter blinked, looking around. In her anger directed at Qrow, she hadn't noticed the congregation of students around them, looking on as if ready for a fight.

The drunken Huntsman let out a pained yelp as Ruby tugged at his ear again. "Ow alright!" He growled. "I'm sorry!"

The girl didn't look impressed. "Don't apologise to me," she said, dragging him before Winter and Weiss complete with yelps of pain as his ear was tugged and he stumbled. "Apologise to them for what you said."

"What?" he slurred. "Why?!"

Another tug.

"Ow okay I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Ow! I'm sorry for insulting her family!"

"Now apologise to Weiss."

"Ow! I'm sorry!"

With that Ruby let go, letting Qrow rub his ear as it burned red.

All Winter could do was stare, unsure of what to do or say.

Beside her, Weis shook her head and sighed. "How much have you been drinking Qrow?"

"Why you wanna know?" he grunted and then cried out when the heiress stamped on his toe.

"Because you're being a _fucking_ _idiot_!" she hissed and Winter actually felt her jaw drop at her little sister's language.

"Indeed."

The four Huntsmen turned to Headmaster Ozpin as he watched them with an amused smile on his face. Beside him however, a not so amused Ironwood and Goodwitch stood.

"What is going on here?" the general questioned, stepping before them.

Winter straightened up and saluted. "Sir!"

He nodded, eyes scanning over the students and to Qrow. He sighed. "What are you doing here?"

The red-eyed huntsman glared back. "I could ask you the same thing Jimmy."

Winter turned to glower at him only to see both Ruby and Weiss stamp on his feet in synchrony.

Goodwitch glared at the onlookers.

"Well? What are you all staring at? If you want to see a fight Amity is open, otherwise move along." She smacked her riding crop against the palm of her hand to emphasise her point, and under the glare of Goodwitch not a single student stayed behind.

Ozpin shook his head. "Miss Rose, bring your Uncle to my office for a word."

Winter blanched. Qrow was this girls uncle!?

Ironwood turned to her. "Winter, come with me as well."

She nodded, but hesitated as she turned back to Wiess.

Her sister just shook her head. "We can talk more later. I'll be in the gardens at Beacon when you're finished."

"…Alright." She said. "I'll see you soon then." With that she followed behind Ironwood and Weiss made her way back to the school. Not exactly the reunion she'd wanted, but the sight of seeing Qrow dragged away by the collar by her… niece, improved the situation slightly.

They made their way to Beacon tower, and the eldest Schnee got into an elevator ride that might have breached her top five worst right behind everyone she'd been in with her father.

She let out a breath as the door opened. It was fine, they could discuss what just happened and-

" _What the fuck was that!?"_ Ruby snarled, spinning around to face Qrow. Winter almost tripped at the sheer vitriol in the girl's voice.

Her Uncle looked _very_ nervous at the sudden change in Ruby's demeanour, and Ironwood had a look of surprise on his face that said he had not expected this.

Ozpin and Glynda watched silently.

"What are you getting worked up about, I only-"

"No," she growled, shoving a finger into his chest. "Don't you dare. You know damn well the situation we're in. This festival is supposed to be about cooperation between kingdoms and you go and tear apart an Atlas robot _in front of a fucking crowd!"_

"I-"

"Did you even think about how that looks? In case you've forgotten. People can upload that online in seconds, I bet they already have."

She cut herself off, pacing back and forth with a growl.

Winter couldn't believe what she was seeing; this girl wasn't even old enough to rightfully be attending Beacon in the first place, and here she was reprimanding a fully fledge Huntsman. No reprimanding was too generous, she was tearing into him, and to make it even stranger all the while the others simply listened on.

She even found herself nodding along with the criticism.

Ruby ran a hand through her hair. What were you even planning to do anyway? Did you want to start a fight? Two Huntsmen-level fighters duking it out in front of students and you think it wouldn't have caused an accident? That some onlookers wouldn't get caught in the crossfire and hurt? Or worse? Did you even think about that?"

"It was-

"And don't even get me started on that comment you made in front of Weiss. You're lucky I don't ram Crescent Rose up your-"

"Miss Rose." Ozpin interrupted. "I believe Qrow has had enough."

The girl didn't look pleased, but she backed off all the same, walking past the headmaster and pressing a hand to the window.

"Things are moving," she said. "I have a feeling. The Vytal festival is going to be the main event, not just for us. We _do not_ need Vale and Atlas seen as enemies now of all times. She's on the move… you're not just here because you're drunk Uncle Qrow. What did you find out?"

Qrow sighed, glancing at Ozpin, who gave the go-ahead.

"This… it's not good Ruby. I went deep, looking into the criminal underworld for answers about what they might be planning. I found what I was looking for, but not what I wanted."

Glynda tilted her head. "what is it? You make it sound… personal."

"That's because it is."

Winter wasn't sure what happened, but the temperature in the room _dropped._ Ruby turned to face her uncle very, very slowly, but the look on her face sent shivers up the specialist's spine.

It was anger, rage… and sadness.

"Schnee," Ironwood said suddenly. "This topic is sensitive… above your clearance. I need to ask you to leave."

She blinked. "S-sir?" he… couldn't be serious, could he? If this was a matter of security surely she should know. They were discussing the white Fang and their next move. What else could there possibly be? Her eyes flickered to the girl. "But what about-"

"Miss Rose is Ozpin's eye, she had the right to be here… I trust you know to keep this a secret."

She swallows. This wasn't making any sense, but what could she say? She couldn't argue with her superior, and this… whatever this way, sounded far too important for her to keep them. That only made things worse however. Why was Ruby allowed here and not her?

"…Yes Sir." It didn't matter, she'd been told to leave so she would leave. It… it wasn't all bad, she could speak to Weiss sooner because of this.

She made her way to the elevator and stepped in, the doors closing behind her.

But before they did, she heard something from Qrow that she didn't know what to make sense of.

"Cinder's the one who took Fall."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss took a sip of her tea as Winter sighed. Her sister has just finished explaining how tensions were building up in Atlas. Apparently, the inhabitants of Mantel were… causing trouble for the other half.

There was even talk if a vote to separate themselves from the Atlesian government, if such a thing were possible.

It meant more work for Winter, more bureaucracy and more care with how she managed situations.

"That sounds hard," Weiss said. "You have a break from it though right? Being here I mean."

Winer shook her head. "If only. Things are… complicated. As it stands we have next to none of our automated troops stationed here… because of that we've needed to rely far more on the quality of our men. The general had to call in several specialist task forces to guard Amity."

"And you?" the heiress pressed. It might have been a bit forward of her (though she was sure Yang would be proud) but this was sort of a big deal the Headmaster had plenty of Huntsmen already stationed in the city, this whole thing just seemed… excessive.

"I will be overseeing the transfer of our manned machinery." There was a complication in Vale I believe. I saw reports that a certain Huntress team had an encounter earlier this year with it."

Weiss blinked. "The Paladin?"

"Indeed." Winter nodded. "I heard you were able to beat it. Though I wouldn't put much stock in it. It was a weaker version, a prototype. The newer versions are much more powerful."

The laugh that escaped Wiess was almost contrary. "They would need to be, Yang took it down all by herself."

Winter frowned. "Yes, well as I said, they are stronger now."

Weiss shot back a smirk. "Yes, and so is Yang, _much stronger._ "

"…I see."

Clearly Winter did not, but that was fine with Weiss. She didn't know Yang. If Winter thought a hunk of metal would be enough to even come close to the blonde's level then she needed to reevaluate her stance.

You just couldn't beat Yang in a strength centric fight. Weiss didn't think she'd ever seen anyone who might come close to her in those terms.

The comment did give Weiss' sister the perfect opportunity to talk about one other thing however.

"That reminds me… I saw your fight earlier today."

Weiss perked up at the topic. "Really?" She asked excitedly. "What did you think?"

"I think you did well," The older Schnee smiled, nodding appreciatively. "You were coordinated, precise and aware of how to exploit your opponent's weaknesses skilfully."

Weiss felt a swell of pride at that, and her chest puffed out ever-so-slightly. Some might have said it was childish to feel so good from such a comment, but Winter wasn't one to give away praised easily. It had to be earned. If Winter said she was impressed, she was _impressed_.

"Thank you sister." She accepted gracefully. "Though it wasn't all of my own merit alone. Blake and Yang each did their part, without them we wouldn't have succeeded, and Rub was the one who came up with the plan in the first place.

"Yes… Ruby Rose."

Weiss paused at the tone her sister used. It was not a friendly one.

"Is there something wrong with my partner?"

Winter jumped a little at Weiss, who winced; she'd said that a far sharper than she'd meant to.

"I…" Her sister hesitated, taking a sip of her tea to mask her need to construct her thoughts. "There isn't anything wrong with Miss Rose _persay_ but… she's a bit… I mean…"

"Yes?" Weiss pushed.

Winter took a breath, as if steeling herself for something. Weiss frowned. What could be so-

"I understand that the two of you are exploring a relationship together, and that it is not my business who you are with, but the associations Rose makes are perhaps not ideal in your situation. Again, I understand that it is your own choice, but as your sister I feel as if my must judge her worth myself."

Weiss… stared.

"…What?"

"I know, you think I'm overstepping my boundaries by as your big sister I must-"

"No, no not that!" Weiss interrupted. "What are you talking about? What is this about Ruby and I?"

Winter looked confused. "Your… relationship. The two of you are… intimate are you not?"

"W-what!?" Weiss spluttered. Oh no, the heat was already rising to her face, it burned. "No of course not! Why would you even… what!?"

"But… your letters." The specialist blinked. "there was such a drastic change from scorn to overwhelming positivity that I thought… and then with the call you made at the CCT."

"That was just me talking about my team! I had judged them too quickly and changed my mind!"

Winter frowned. "then what about today? You introduced me to her as if the two of you were close."

"We are close," Weiss snapped. "She's my partner and team leader!"

The older Schnee scrambled for words. "So… the two of you aren't… together?"

"No!" this was so embarrassing. It was too much! Weiss buried her face in her hands and groaned. Her sister had thought she was- this was ridiculous!

"The two of us could never… c-could never be like _that!"_

And now she was picturing it in her head!

Her cheeks were getting even hotter!

"R-Ruby is too young for that anyway, no, even more than that I've never even seen an indication that she was interested in romance."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Then why did you take her to the school dance?"

Weiss recoiled in horror. "H-how did you know about that?"

Winter rolled her eyes. "There were Atlas soldiers stationed there Weiss. When they saw you, word was guaranteed to get back to me."

"T-that doesn't mean anything." She insisted. "We j-just went as friends and had fun together, that was all."

Winter didn't look convinced but eventually she let out a long sigh. "If you say so sister. I suppose I'll have to apologise to the girl next time I see her. I feel as if I was a bit too standoffish in my defence of you."

Weiss nodded, relieved. The warmth was still burning her face but the moment had passed. Honestly, where had Winter gotten such an idea? Ruby for all her maturity was still a child, even if one day she would grow into a beaut- no, don't go there.

"I think Ruby and Weiss would be an excellent couple."

"Gah! Penny where did you come from!? Fuck Sake!"

"Weiss! We need to have a talk about you're language!"

"Or for the love of-"

"This seems fun!" Penny smiled brightly.

"Ugh!" Weiss head met the table.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **Oh Winter, you have no idea what you're in for, and poor Weiss, being subjected to this torment. It can't get any worse.**

 **Right?**

 **Well you'll find out soon enough. You all know what's about to go down, but before it does, we've got a few more character to go around. This is probably the hardest part of Volume three; because so much happens all at once character moments are harder to squeezer in without dragging things along but I'll give it my best shot anyway.**

 **And can we talk about Qrow's introduction? I mean, I love the guy, but how is it that he can stumbled into a school drunk, destroy military property for no reason, bad mouth a general in front of not only Atlas students, a specialists and impressionable teens, but also at a time when cooperation should be the main selling point, and _then_ start a fight in front of said teenagers with deadly weapons.**

 **A** **nd in the end, still become one of the fan favourites?**

 **Is it Vic's voice? It probably is.**

 **You're probably wondering how a *ahem* certain meeting is going to play out also considering who's still around, but it should be worth the wait.**

 **For now, that's all I've got.**

 **Be sure to Follow, Favourite and Review while we get closer to the big bang of the Beacon Arc.**

 **And let me know if you liked this chapter. Or, if you hated it, let me know that too.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (Slash) WSpectre**


	34. Cooperation is Vytal: Part 3

**Released early for reasons explained at the bottom.**

 **...**

* * *

"Alright, sit down, shut up and listen."

Team RWBY blinked in almost unison, and they weren't the only ones.

Today was a slow day. The fights were taking a break to allow the more commercial side of the festival to shine, stalls were opening up in mass and business were enticing people by the droves.

But no fights meant the students of the Huntsman academies had free time, and Beacon was still a school.

They were in one such class now, except there were far more people. Team RWBY had wondered why there was so much space in the classrooms when there were a finite number of students. Now they knew, as it was filled with students from Atlas, Haven and Shade. SSSN was up in one corner, as was NDGO, BRNZ, ARBN, CRDL and JNPR

The teacher however was a new one.

Or, not new, but certainly not one that had taught them before. She had dark circles under her eyes, so it wasn't exactly a good start.

"Alright, just so we can get this out of the way, I'm professor Peach, Beacon medical head and Aura expert. No I don't usually teach first years and yes I am just out of bed so let's get on with it." The students shared a look. "Today we'll be going over something that would usually be covered in second year, but which is important with Huntsman and civilians brushing so close to one another, not to mention that I've been invited to take part in a research endeavour in Atlas so I won't be here next year."

She turned to the board behind her, scratching at a messy mop of short pink hair as she scribbled something down.

When she turned back they got a proper look at it, but she read it aloud anyway.

"Aura laws and Huntsman restrictions." She said. "This is something you should all know, more than that, it's something you're _required_ to know before you graduate. So listen up, I won't repeat myself."

"First off, let's go over what everybody knows; what Aura is in the most basic of descriptions, Aura is a person's soul given physical form. What else?"

"It is a barrier that shields us from harm," Pyrrha answered from her seat. "It also acts as a way to heal our wounds."

"That's right." Peach nodded. "Now, I'll clear up some confusion, since Aura is so widely known but so complicated, there are misconceptions and contradiction that people believe about it. Firstly, so say Aura is a passive force that shields, protects and heals us, while others say it is a conscious thing you must apply."

"It is both," she said. "Though it's a little more complicated. You see, when you see a fist coming towards your face you tense, your body and mind both react to it before it even happens. It wants to protect itself. In this case, it can be seen as a passive force, since you don't make a dedicated effort to summon it but it comes into play anyway. We know however that it is also the opposite in some cases because of one thing; sneak attacks."

She looked around. "I can see it in your faces now. Some of you never even noticed did you? Well let me explain it then. Say an attack is coming from behind that you don't know is coming: your body doesn't realise it's in danger so it won't tense, and since you haven't already applied your Aura you take the hit. If it was completely passive this wouldn't be a problem. Obviously all attacks from behind don't work like this once you _do_ activate your Aura, because it's working consciously."

"It does lead to some interesting applications though; the most experienced in Aura learn how to manipulate it to only cover certain parts of the body, making them even stronger and in some cases more dangerous, but since that' the more advanced stuff I'll leave that to your combat teachers to beat into you."

There were a few nervous chuckles at that, particularly from the students who knew Professor Goodwitch.

"Now, as you've probably mentioned by my use of the word 'tense' Aura is a funny thing. It comes and goes and has for a long time been seen as a spiritual thing and in many ways still is since it's believed t be the manifestations of our souls, but it acts in many ways like a muscle. Simply put, if you constantly train with your Aura your reserves grow and you can take more hits. If you train with your semblances they do as well. It's seen in other things too. People with Aura are faster, stronger, more agile. They have more stamina, regenerative powers and special abilities that can push things over the edge. The fact is people with Aura have their potential opened up in front of them."

"It's not a complete shield, even when your reserves are full there are limits. For example, if a sword is sent into your chest then unless you can focus your aura to make the point of contact even stronger it'll still go through, or if an attack is too far over your limits it'll go right through your Aura, regardless of whether it's broken or not. That's why Miss Goodwitch is so strict during sparring matches. Accidents still happen and it's her job to prevent them as well as teach."

She turned to them again. "So why you're probably wondering does everyone not have their Aura unlocked? Well?"

There was a muttering throughout the room.

"No one? Well that's what we'll be getting into with Aura laws today: we'll start with the most practical ones first."

She did a one-eighty back to the board and began listing them out.

"The easiest one to argue is that a person Aura can usually only be unlocked by someone who already has Aura. There are exceptions, where people gain access to their Aura because of moments of intense stress, but they _are_ exceptions. For most people it has to be done manually, and since it is a very tiring endeavour on the one unlocking it, it isn't seen as a practical thing by many."

There were nods of understanding.

"Next, there is a far more… grim reason. You would think, that frontier towns and villages, which are under constant threat of the Grimm would benefit especially from every resident having a personal shield, added strength and vitality. In reality, this isn't the case. All of you here are people who have trained consistently to get where you are. Those natural abilities wouldn't be as great as they are unless you put effort into growing every day, something the average person just isn't doing… sadly, in a real-life scenario, if Grimm were to attack someone with nothing but Aura to their name, their deaths would just be slower and far, far more painful."

She saw the looks on their faces. "Yeah, not a pretty picture."

She hummed, running a hand through her hair. "Thankfully the next few reason's aren't as bad, more on the law side of things. You see, realistically, how many people living their day to day lives in the city have need for Aura? Their lives aren't constantly in danger, and law-abiding citizens shouldn't be in a situation where a shield is needed. At least that's the way the council sees it: you might not know since the schools take care of it for you, but every individual with an Aura is required by law t register their status with the government. When you become Huntsmen and Huntresses the idea that you have Aura is a given, so registration isn't required, but the fact is, it's much harder for the police to deal with people who have Aura themselves, so, the council made it so that while not illegal to have, it is illegal to activate the Aura of someone who is not part of the Huntsmen or Military forces."

Blake shifted in her seat. "That sounds kind of…"

"Unfair? Maybe, but others would argue it's necessary. They use the same logic that is used for weaponry. Again, being people aspiring to be Huntsmen and Huntresses it doesn't affect you, but there isn't a reason for a citizen to have a weapon of their own. You _can_ have one by registering with the council, but the system put in place is purposefully long and tedious to discourage it."

The Faunus wasn't convinced. "But surely people who are breaking the law can get their hands on them anyway."

"Again, maybe you're right. These laws are still relatively new in the grand scheme of things. Only coming in around a hundred years ago, and the Huntsmen laws only sixty years ago. Things might still need to be polished, and that is the job of lawmakers every day, that does however lead into the last and perhaps most relevant part: Huntsman restrictions, and before you ask, they are called 'restrictions' because if they were laws it would be too hard to enforce them. Huntsmen deal with Huntsmen because nobody else is strong enough."

She looked over the students, motioning to the distinct uniforms (or lack thereof in Shade's case)

"You're taught this as kids, so you should all know that Huntsmen and Huntresses are separate from the affairs of the four kingdoms, but what does that mean exactly? Well for starters, Huntsmen are forbidden from fighting in wars. That's to say, if there was another Great War tomorrow, the fact is we would have to sit it out, watching from the sidelines as people died."

"But that's so wrong!" Sun protested. "If we're supposed to help people; how could we just stand by?"

"Because of just that reason," Peach answered back. "We are supposed to help people. If it was war, you'd have to kill _people_ not Grimm."

 _That_ garnered a reaction as some people swallowed audibly.

She went on. "Instead we'd be tasked with the job essentially of janitor, cleaning up the battlefields that would inevitably draw Grimm from their aftermaths of pain and suffering. The fact is if Huntsmen were a part of a war, we would be the killing machines, the most bloodied and deadly. We would slaughter hundreds, maybe even thousands before having to face off against others like us, maybe even people in this room. And in war, unspeakable things happen all the time. How long would it be before a Huntsman massacred a village of innocent people and our purpose as guardians was lost?"

The silence was her answer. "Exactly." She hesitated for a moment and sighed. "There are a few more… complicated ones. How about this; Huntsman can not under any circumstances kill civilians. Sounds completely reasonable right?"

A series of nods.

"Well that same rule applies in a case of self-defence."

Arslan blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if an angry, murderous mob of people attacked you, you can't kill them to protect yourself because you're so much stronger and more deadly than them."

A pause.

"I can see you're all still unsure of what I'm getting at so let me set the scene: you've been hired by a frontier town to kill some Grimm that have been causing trouble."

"It's not too dangerous and you get the job done easily and you go back to town expecting to get paid. The only thing is, they don't have the money for it. Now, towns will advertise how much their willing to pay up front, but the fact is, if there's a problem and they don't have the money, they'll lie about it. Now already that's not a smart idea, so when you don't look happy from not being paid, they're not smart enough to realise they're in danger of being completely erased by you, a fully-fledged Huntsman."

The professor and doctor winced. "What do you think happens when one of them gets the bright idea to try and get rid of the problem by killing you then and there? Most of the time, it doesn't go the way they expect it."

The students winced. They go the picture; now you had a deadly, angry Huntsman dealing with idiots who lied to them to put their lives at risk, only to try and kill them later.

"In the beginning, it was bloody for a lot of places. Which wouldn't be a problem if it was just the idiots who got what they deserved, but towns aren't just filled with idiots, and on the frontier, killing even one person could destroy an entire settlements infrastructure… not to mention the children that have to grow up without someone now… so the restriction was out in place, that the most a Huntsman can do in that situation is knock out a civilian, if they cross the line… another Huntsman is sent out after them. Just so you know, since Huntsmen are excluded for government rulings, there usually isn't a trial."

The professor turned way, before seeming to remember something important and turning back.

"And one more thing, you should know that all of the things I just listed? You can ignore them completely."

Blake choked back a gasp, and she wasn't the only one. "What!? But, how? Why? I thought you said they were things Huntsmen had to follow!"

Peach shook her head. "They are things Huntsmen are _requested_ to follow: that's why they're called restrictions instead of laws. The fact is that the King of Vale when he founded the schools made it so that they were exept from laws because of their purpose: in his eyes, killing Grimm was the only thing that mattered in the end."

"Then… all of this…"

"Don't get it wrong. They aren't laws, but doing something unforgivable evil or cruel usually means that the council will put a bounty on your head… and Huntsmen with even the smallest sense of justice will come after you, if only for the pay."

Her face became grave. "You all need to know this, because more and more in the world tensions are rising. As Huntsmen and Huntresses you have responsibilities… this festival is just one of them."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Pyrrha let out a long breath as she straightened her stance. Sweat poured off her in a definitely unhygienic amount, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. She had more important things to do.

She was alone int eh Emerald Forest, getting as much last-minute training in as she could. Jaune and Ren and been dragged away after class to the stalls in Vale and Pyrrha had taken it as the opportunity it was.

She was nervous. It might have been a bit arrogant of her, but the champion knew that if they made it to the singles rounds, she would be the one team JNPR put forward. She didn't want to disappoint her team by losing easily but she wasn't sure just how strong the other schools would be.

Which again, was why she was out here.

Her muscles ached with that satisfying feeling a person got when they pushed their body to its limits without overstepping them. Already her aura was working on knitting torn muscle back together so she could go again.

 _Creak._

Pyrrha blinked, looking around her as a tree tipped over and crashed to the ground, joining the last twenty she'd cleaved through to practice her strikes.

…Maybe she should take a break first.

As if under some kind of spell, as soon as the thought came to mind Pyrrha felt the exhaustion of her training set in.

She let out another breath, though this one sounded almost like a pant as she set her sword and shield down and sat against one of the trees she hadn't managed to deforest. She closed her eyes and let herself relax as the wind bristled the emerald leaves above.

"Someone's been busy."

Pyrrha jumped at the voice and searched for its source quickly.

She needn't have bothered, because its owner stood in plain view for her to see with an easy smile on their face.

"You know," Amber hummed. "It's probably not the best idea to take a nap in a forest known for Grimm. I get you're a great fighter and all, but this is a bit much."

She blushed. Okay, maybe she needed more than just a little break if she was forgetting something like that. "Sorry." She mumbled.

Amber shook her head and smiled as she walked over to the younger girl. "It looks like you've been occupied. How long have you been training out here anyway?"

"About two hours or so."

Pyrrha blinked as Amber nearly tripped over herself. The older girl staring at Pyrrha in bewilderment.

"two hours? Seriously?"

"Um… yes?" The Mistralian said. "I mean, it might be a slightly longer amount of time that what first years are expected to do, but I did it at a steadier pace so it evens out." She looked away. "I know you probably see that as a lacklustre amount but I don't feel I should strain myself with the tournament resuming tomorrow."

"R-right," Amber swallowed. "Lacklustre… sure, no it's fine." She coughed, then adding when there was a pause. "You mind if I sit here with you for a while?"

"Oh, of course," Pyrrha said. "Go right ahead I mean."

The older girl did so, her back resting against the tree trunk beside the redhead. It gave Pyrrha a moment to look at her, and almost unconsciously her eyes drifted up to Amber face, to her scars.

"Looking for something?"

Pyrrha flinched and looked away in shame. "I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't have- I was being insensitive and I-"

"It's fine." Amber dismissed. "You're not the first person to look."

There was a pause.

"Can you…" Pyrrha hesitated. "Would it be fine to tell me how you got them?"

Amber tilted her head to the side, not looking at the redhead as she hummed.

"Well… since I don't have anything better to do I suppose why not? I'll let you know it's not much of an exciting story, and a part of it's my fault. You already know that I've known Ruby since before she joined Beacon don't you?"

"I do, you meant her while on a mission if I remember right."

"You remembered right," Amber nodded. "But that doesn't mean it was true.

"Huh?"

"I travelled with Ruby for a long time; all around Vale for reasons I'm not going to get into right now because it's complicated. Let's just say that for a long time the two of us were close, as in, geographically we travelled for nearly a year together."

"But," Pyrrha frowned. "How could that be if you were attending Beacon?"

"Again, complicated. Let me just say that we spent a lot of time around each other and leave it at that okay?"

A nod.

"Good. Now, I guess it's fair to say that everybody gets into arguments sometimes, and being on the road, moving constantly made that even more likely between the two of us. Before… it happened, Ruby and I had been having a bigger argument than usual."

Pyrrha didn't ask what it was about, it could have been important, or it could have been trivial, but by the tone in Amber's voice, it wasn't her business. Instead she stayed silent and let the older girl continue.

"Eventually it got heated enough that I just sort of… walked out. Not just of the room, but of the village we were staying at. I was mad, and knew Ruby would have to follow me, but I must have been stupid enough at the time to forget Ruby was angry with me too. She didn't follow right away."

The scarred girl sighed. "Then, on the road I saw a little girl, just sitting there crying."

"There was nobody else? No parents of people with her?"

"Nope."

That… didn't sound right, nor safe. Grimm could meet you on any road, a child outside of a town, outside the protection of their walls… it would be a death sentence.

"What happened?"

"It was a trap."

Pyrrha gasped. "Bandits?"

Amber shook her head. "No, worse."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"I-" The champion stopped. "What?"

"I don't know," She repeated. "I didn't see their faces. I looked right at them and I could tell what they looked like. The girl on the road? An illusion, and they used the same trick to make sure I couldn't see their faces the whole time."

"And you fought them?"

"I did," she confirmed, hands clenching into fists. "And I lost… badly."

"Your scars." Pyrrha realised.

"They tried to take my life, and much more…" She sighed. "Ruby showed up right then and there. If it wasn't for her speed, if she'd been a second slower, who knows what would have happened. As it is, this is what I have to show for it, and it didn't stop there. Whoever it was hadn't been alone. Someone else was working with them, a man as dangerous as he was genius. We ran and ran and kept running, for weeks, until we made it here, to Vale… and I think they're here now."

"Why," Pyrrha swallowed. "Why are you telling me this?"

Amber looked her in the eye. "Because I-"

 _Snap!_

Both girls head whipped around to the sudden sound that echoed through the forest.

"Who's there?" Amber called out, suddenly alert.

"What are you doing?" Pyrrha gasped. "It could just be another student."

"No," the older girl said, reaching for her staff. "This is something else. I have a feeling. They're familiar."

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"It's too complicated to explain right now, their power feels similar to mine."

"You keep saying things are complicated! What are you talking about!"

"It's-"

 _Snap!_

They stiffened. Right in front of them a figure had emerged from behind a tree.

They donned red and black garbs and a dark sheath at their side.

And a bone white mask with crimson eyes boring through.

"Who are you?" Amber questioned when the figure was about twenty feet away her staff pointed at them and waving steadily in the air.

The figure, a woman, didn't respond, but behind the mask those eyes flickered back and forth between them. Pyrrha gulped nervously, hands inching towards Miló and Akoúo̱ but they were too far away. Dammit, she couldn't even use her semblance to pull them closer, it could set things off.

That was something she'd have to remember, never leave her weapons somewhere she couldn't reach by hand.

And still the woman was silent.

Who was she? Why was she here? She gave off a dangerous Aura, and not in the literal sense of the word.

This wasn't like anything she'd felt before, not against the White Fang, not against the Grimm and not against any opponent she'd ever fought in her tournaments.

It was instinctual, animalistic. The person in front of her was dangerous, deadly and a threat if she decided to be one.

Amber growled. "I'll ask you one last time, who are-"

It happened so fast Pyrrha almost missed it, but her body _moved_.

Akoúo shot into her hands as she leapt in front of Amber and the champion cried out as a red blade smashed into her shield and sent her rocketing back, splintering through a tree trunk.

Amber yelled out her name, but a second later the air was filled with the sounds of a clash. Pyrrha eventually rolled onto her front, gasping for breath and pushing herself up.

She froze however when she saw-

Amber rolled to the side, blocking a strike with her staff but being lifted off her feet. She flipped in the air, and her eye flared up in a blaze as she launched a fireball from her hands at her attacker.

The woman sliced it straight out of the air and dashed forward, past Amber and spinning on her heel, burying her foot into the girls back before her feet could even touch the ground. Amber stumbled forward, but instead of falling used one hand to cartwheel herself back straight and threw one hand forward.

Pyrrha gasped as an _entire tree_ was uprooted as if by some giant invisible hand and thrown at the masked woman. She gasped even more audibly when the woman _backhanded_ it away as if it were nothing!

Amber swore and leapt back as the red woman moved in again, slashing upwards and catching the younger girls staff, sending her pinwheeling away and through a tree.

The masked woman tilted her head the tiniest bit, as if curious.

An instant later the red blade in her hand switched into a reverse grip and held behind her back.

There was a metallic clang as Miló locked against the red sword. Pyrrha grit her teeth.

She'd launched herself at the woman as hard as she could, as fast as she could from behind, and yet this woman had not only blocked and caught the sword against her own without even looking, but she held her ground as if the Mistralian was nothing more than an annoyance.

There was a crack of wind as Amber flew back in from the front and stabbed forward with her staff set ablaze.

The red woman decided to disengage with her sword – sending Pyrrha back a few steps – and cut low at Amber's legs.

When the girl jumped over it, the red sword was suddenly above her, acing down to lop off her head. Amber's eyes widened as she realised she was caught in mid-air without the time to dodge and desperately brought up her staff to stop it.

A bronze shield did the work for her.

Pyrrha had put all her might into the block, but even she was surprised with the sword shattered against Akoúo, but she took the chance, twirling on her foot a full three-sixty degrees and smashing the shield against the woman's face.

There was a cracking sound as it connected with a flare of Aura and the woman's head snapped to the side. Then silence. Pyrrha's eyes widened as the woman turned slowly. She hadn't even stumbled, hadn't been knocked back a pace.

But those crimson eyes were focused on her now.

The champion fell back as a new, blue sword slashed at her side. On instinct Miló came up to deflect it, or failing that redirected enough to let her retreat.

They connected.

And Pyrrha had to bit back a cry as her bones _rattled_ from the blow. She almost lost her grip on her sword, but she knew if she did the next attack would connect. She grunted and pressed down on Milo's grip and the sword whirled and transformed.

The woman in red brought up her sword to defend seriously for the first time in their conflict as a javelin scrapped past her.

She didn't let up.

A thrust at the woman's centre mass, a swipe at her legs and a terrific barge with Akoúo as she propelled it at the woman with her semblance.

A blue blade, a green blade, a yellow one, each shattering into flakes of dust with each connection.

And through it all, Pyrrha could see a spark of interest in her attackers' eyes.

Anger flared in her chest. She wasn't some lab rat for this woman to inspect. This woman was trying to kill her! Trying to kill Amber without so much as a word! What right did she have to look at this all like it sated her curiosity?!

She roared in anger, doubling her efforts to land a blow on the red woman.

Faster and faster and faster, each blow harder, stronger, heavier, Pyrrha pushed her aura into her limbs, pushing past her threshold even as her muscles screamed out in protest.

And then, the woman lost a single step of ground.

Pyrrha gasped as a fist was buried in her gut, folding her over the woman's arm. She dropped to the ground, gasping and retching desperately. Her opponent had been holding back. She hadn't even seen the move. It had been so fast her eyes hadn't even been able to register it, and it felt as if someone had set off a grenade in her stomach!

This woman had been playing with her!

The redhead froze stiff as pale fingers brushed against her chin, tilting her head up to meet the masked foe.

Red eyes bore into green, but Pyrrha pushed back against the pain to glare up defiantly at her.

The woman's shoulder shook. She was laughing at her!

And then the ground rolled beneath their feet.

Pyrrha fell onto her back as the earth beneath the woman's feet shot up, and a giant, solid block of rock crashed down from above. Another slammed into it from the side. Then another from the other side.

From above, below, left, right again and again, scrunching, cracking, crashing the woman between ten tonnes of rock from every side.

And then there was a gout of flame that engulfed the ball of stone. Pyrrha looked back to see the fire streaming from Amber's hands as one eye glowed with fire.

The rock was melted and hardened again, molten and solid in an instant before falling back onto the ground and indenting the grass beneath it.

Amber's hands fell as she panted tiredly, almost falling to the ground. Pyrrha struggled to her feet. "Are you," she coughed. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah." Amber gasped. "I'm fine. No problem."

She clearly wasn't Pyrrha could tell the older girl was favouring one leg over the other, and her skin was damp, worn out as if she'd been drained.

"Amber." She swallowed. "What was that? How did you do that?"

The girl opened her mouth to answer-

 _Crack._

Amber paled and stared over Pyrrha's shoulder with a look of horror.

The champions instincts flared and she whipped back around, Akoúo rising up as rocks scattered in every direction at blistering speed. A chunk caught her shield and sent her crashing into another tree, which splintered half way before tipping over, roots torn right out of the ground.

Oh, and Pyrrha' Aura was broken, so there was that.

Her eyes struggled to open, but when they did she could see where the ball of stone had just been.

It was gone, obliterated, and in its place, the woman in red stood there as if nothing had happened, fresh as a daisy. In fact, she made a show of brushing off some imaginary dust from her shoulder as steam rose from the ground around her.

Pyrrha groaned as she dragged herself to her feet, and leapt in front of the downed form of Amber. A chunk of rock had struck the girl, knocking her unconscious. It was just the two of them now, Pyrrha knew she had no chance in winning.

And so did her attacker.

Then against all odds, all reasonable assumptions;

The masked woman hummed aloud.

"Impressive." She said, in a voice that was dulled and warped by the Grimm mask into sounding almost monstrous and demonic like a nevermore's caw. "Even with her power the girl behind you is far less able than you, her junior. You are skilled, determined and strong-willed."

Those red eyes flashed behind the bone-white mask. "You are strong." Pyrrha flinched as she reached for her sword, but instead of attacking, the woman cut the air and before Pyrrha's eyes a whirling mass of red appeared.

"Everyone is converging in Vale child. You must be prepared for a fight, there will be one… do not tell the headmaster, for your own safety, I'm sure he already has plans for you… if you survive… come seek me out. There is much I could teach you if that is something you want. For now, it's time I renewed my tribe and show them the old ways once again."

She moved towards the portal, but couldn't step through before Pyrrha called out.

"Wait! You… you never answered the question before; who are you?"

She could _hear_ the smirk beneath the mask.

"Me? Well… you can just call me a friend in high places."

And then she stepped through the red, and it was gone, leaving Pyrrha to stare at what had just been, and the wreckage around her.

What had just happened?

And… why did she get the feeling she 'd just heard a pun?

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Is there something wrong Weiss?"

"Hm? Oh, no Penny, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about things."

"What kind of things?"

The heiress shot a glance at the other girl, as if judging whether or not Penny was being serious in her questioning or choosing to simply annoy her. In the end, she decided it was just curiosity at play.

"I… I'm not really sure how to put it… my… father, sent me a message earlier."

"Oh?" the strange girl blinked. "Mister Jacque Schnee? What kind? Was it a message of support for the tournament? Good wishes? Another gesture of familial love?"

"Not… quite," Weiss sighed. "I had been cut off from my accounts earlier this week and asked home as to why. He informed me that since I was staying in Vale away from where he could see me, I had no need of the Schnee funds and should work out my difficulties on my own."

"Oh my…. Is that bad?" Penny asked and looked closer when Weiss hesitated.

"I… again, I'm not sure. I know my father meant it as a punishment, not only for not being in contact with him but for studying at Beacon instead of Atlas and having lost access to my funds is… a new experience."

Weiss looked towards the cliffs, towards the city below.

"But at the same time I feel as if this… weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Recently I haven't even really needed that money, and the school pays for everything I genuinely need anyway. If anything, it just feels like more of a reason to do whatever I want without my father baring down on me."

Penny tilted her head. "So… you're happy?"

A frustrated growl left her lips. " _I don't know!_ " she said. "I think I might enjoy the freedom, the fact that father has even less control over me now, but the same happened to Winter, and because she resisted, pushed forward against father's wishes she was renounced as the heiress, she lost it and it was given to me and now the same thing is happening. I… I don't know if I should beg my father for forgiveness or trust or even, or even just to ignore it all and wait for the inevitability of him snapping."

Weiss ran a hand over her face, finger trailing down her scar. "What should I do?"

"…Do you believe in the soul?" Penny asked suddenly.

"I'm sorry?"

"The soul," she repeated. "No as a power source for our semblances and aura's, but as the spiritual essence that makes up who we are?"

"I don't-" the heiress hesitated. "I mean, I _suppose_ I do. I've never really been given any reason to doubt it before."

"I believe in the soul," Penny told her, looking down at her hands, opening and closing them slowly, as if looking underneath, for what Weiss didn't know. "I believe that I have a soul, something that makes me, well, me. Something unique and special. My father told me I was special because of my birth, but now I think it's something else" she looked up and smiled. "It's the same for you, isn't it Weiss?"

It…. It was. People had always seen her as special because of her family, because of her last name, as a Schnee.

"What," Weiss swallowed. "What are you trying to say Penny?"

"I'm… not entirely sure." She admitted. "but I think, that having a soul means that we can grow and change… it means that the things we do are important because we decide to do them and they affect us, we measure ourselves by them." Penny smiled. "This is one of those times right? For you to see how much you've changed by being yourself, without your father and if it means you aren't the heiress anymore, it will have been because of your choice instead of your fathers."

Penny giggled, wrapping her hands behind her back. "At least that's what I think. Does it make sense?"

"…Yes," Weiss laughed eventually. "Yes it does. Thank you Penny, you've… helped me I think."

"Well, I believe that is what friends are for Weiss. Now come on, another thing friends do is visit festival stalls together, let us go do that!"

"Yeah," The white-haired girl smiled, letting herself be pulled along by Penn- by her friend. "I think that would be fun."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Roman flicking the lighter back, his cigar glowing hot as he took a long drag. For once he was getting some peace and quiet in this damn warehouse; no brain-dead thugs, no nutcase White Fang, and no terrifying shadow organisers that were Cinder and her cohorts.

He didn't feel all that pleased with it though.

It was empty sure, but only because they'd moved everything out.

All the dust, all the weapons and all of their men. They were all gone, moved to another location and gearing up.

It was going to happen soon, very soon, and then, Roman wouldn't be needed anymore.

They'd get rid of him, one way or another.

Reds words echoed in his head even now.

There was more to this, and he was way in over his head.

Well screw that, he was a master thief, he was Roman-fucking-Torchwick! He didn't go out unless he wanted to, and he sure didn't want to.

They icy grips of hel would have to work a little harder if they wanted to take him without a fight.

"Did you get it?" he asked to the seemingly empty warehouse, he know better though, and there was a shimmer as Neo appeared before him, grinning widely and waving a scroll back and forth.

It had a little black chess piece on the screen.

He nodded. "Good. I doubt Cindy has any use for this anymore with those crazies running the show, but nobody said we can't use it to our advantage. When this all goes down, we'll have the firepower to get through it."

" _We're making sure she's getting out of this alright though… right?"_ Neo signed.

"Yeah," he said. "hopefully, if things got to plan it shouldn't be a problem to escape too… gotta make sure though."

Roman reached for his own scroll and tapped on one of his contacts, an old friend of his.

"Junior, yeah it's me. Listen, I need you to send a message for me."

There was chatter at the other end.

"To everybody, every family head, every crime syndicate and every dirty business you got."

"Tell them Roman Torchwick sent them a warning, that soon they'll need to defend their turf."

...

* * *

 **Okay, so, might be a bit late, but the RTX panel was interesting to say the least. Particularly on RWBY there were a lot of things that have me hopeful.**

 **The first, being the obvious elephant in the room, the writing. Apparently they've already finished writing episode thirteen, which not only confirms at least that many, but that there is a larger amount of time for them to work on the story and fix it. Speaking on fixing the story, it seems like Miles and Kerry are taking on a lot more feedback, from the fans, but also from people within the company going over it like Yssa. Maybe that will also help with fight scene (ergo teleporting) consistently.**

 **Now, this will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I actually didn't think Vol 5 was** _ **that**_ **bad. In fact, the more a watch it and rewatch it, the more it goes from, damn this was a bad season, to meh… it was serviceable in places.**

 **I dunno, most people seem to have a frothing hatred for the season when for me it at least gave us things like the lancer bees, Sienna (For the time she was there) haven and its headmaster, Hazel, Seer Grimm's proper uses, the conclusion of the White Fang arc, the Maidens fight, possibility of Grimm limbs and the relics.**

 **Was it still the poorest out of the four? Yes.**

 **But people said the same about Volume four because of the drastic change it went for in terms of story.**

 **Maybe that's because I like the concepts of a story and feel like it's one of the most important parts but yes, I can agree the execution of Volume 5 was lacking.**

 **Too much exposition we already knew or guessed, and a big portion of just standing around and talking in a house when we could have got more interesting scenes like Qrow going into the underworld of Mistral to recruit people.**

 **I mean, what' the point of world building if you don't use it in your story? Or at least mention it?**

 **I feel like the lake with** _ **floating islands made by gravity dust**_ **should have been more focused on because of this. I mean, the nastiest Grimm should have been there, I feel like it would have made the Grimm even scarier and opened up the world a lot more.**

 **Anyway, moving on, we got stuff like the announcement of an Adam Character short which should be coming out a week after this chapter. I'm interested in it, if not for the potential it could show us in terms of storey, but even just seeing if the visuals have improved even more and** _ **maybe**_ **redeeming Adam in the intimidation factor.**

 **I still want him to die, if only because you need terrifying bad guys for the heroes to fight and he fits that bill.**

 **Or did during Volume three. Now, some people are probably upset that we only get one character short this time around (at least from what I've heard) but I'm fine with that. I think that if the fights from the Weiss and Yang shirts had been used in Vol 5, or at least the quality, then Volume 5 would have been far better received. If they take more time to work on the fights in 6? Then I'll be happy.**

 **Then, some perhaps less related but interesting things, a vol 1 and 2 adaptation in manga form. Unfortunately not by Shirow Miwa but by someone I'm not all too familiar with and can't exactly remember their name. It dulls it for me a bit because as I've said I loved Shirow's work but it's fine, it's still interesting.**

 **There was the reveal of a manticore Grimm, so that was cool, I'm hoping they'll reveal more Grimm in the Volume itself and in the (Card game?) they'll reveal a new villain that they mentioned before. Or maybe they already did and I missed it.**

 **Then there was the statue which is** _ **way**_ **too expensive for me but looks cool all the same, some updates for Grimm Eclipse which I have on my account because it was on sale so a win for me there and… something else…**

 **Oh yeah, a YA series called 'after the fall' featuring team CFVY a year after the fall of beacon in shade. It's written by EC Myers who admittedly I'm not familiar with but from some research I've done seems to have some very popular books. So, maybe a read I'll pick up when it comes out next year.**

 **I think that's it, but all in all some good stuff.**

 **Not much to say about this chapter itself without spoiling it for you but I'm sure you're wondering anyway. Why on earth did Raven attack Pyrrha and Amber?**

 **Well, you'll find out eventually, but part of it was a little homage to the JNPR vs Raven fight we never got to see in Volume 2. I feel this would have been something they should have kept, if only because it would invest the audience far more in Raven's character but, hey that's just me.**

 **I'm sure you'll all rejoice to know this is the last time we'll be looking at the definition of Aura but if there are any mechanics you feel are different from the show, good, they're meant to be.**

 **Oh, and that little scenario I got with the huntsman and villagers? I got the idea from a side quest in the Witcher 3. Yeah, Geralt stumbles across a visage massacred and finds out another Witcher did it. Apparently he'd killed a monster for them, but when he went looking for his pay they tried to kill him. Go figure. Anyway, it was us to you as a character to decide the guy's fate but I let him live. I mean, they stabbed him in the back after he risked his life to help them. Maybe the killy-killy part was a bit much, but it was the principle of the thing.**

 **Getting off track again, where was I?**

 **Oh yeah, things are stirring and everybody's getting ready for the big bang whether they know it's coming or not.**

 **So what did you think of this Chapter? Or since we're on the topic, RTX as a whole?**

 **For both things, did you like it? Hate it? Let me know.**

 **And as always if you want to stick around for more be sure to follow, favourite and review.**

 **There's something with this site that I can't reply to all reviews, but any that I can I do, so if you having something you want to say, go right ahead.**

 **One last thing before I go, next week, there probably won't be a chapter because of family plans. Nothing bad at all, but it'll keep me occupied for the week, just a heads up.**

 **Obligatory request to follow, favourite and Review becasue why not.**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	35. Cooperation is Vytal: Part 4

**Back FROM HOLIDAYS AND HERE WITH A NEW CHAPTER. I just got home two nights ago and got this out for you guys. I feel a little bad for the wait so I hope you like this chapter, more at the bottom of course.**

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss checked Myrtenaster's chamber, making sure it was loaded properly with dust.

The first round of the doubles, two members of team RWBY against a team from Atlas named… FNKI. A peculiar name but with the naming conventions headmaster Ozpin had used to name their own team she couldn't really blame them.

If she was to expect anything from them, it would be militaristic strategy and skill. It would be difficult, but with the two of them it should be fine.

"Are you ready Blake?"

The Faunus took a breath, strapping Gambol Shroud to her back and fixing her collar high.

"Ready."

The heiress nodded back and the two of them made their way out of the changing rooms and down the hall, towards the stadium opening. There was a pause.

"Are you alright Blake? You seem quiet."

The dark haired girl shot her a look.

"Okay," she amended. "Quieter than usual."

"it's nothing just…" Blake looked her way. "Why do you think Yang asked me to take her place in this fight?"

Weiss blinked. "that's what you're thinking about?"

"It's strange though isn't it?" she pressed. "Yang usually loves a good fight, and in front of so many people? Why do you think she gave it to me, I mean, we all know she's stronger than me."

"I don't know," the Schnee shrugged. "Maybe she just wanted to give you the chance to have fun in the tournament."

"She did a poor job of it then."

"I'm sorry?"

Blake sighed, scratching her neck. "I don't want to be in front of so many people, not on TV, especially not like this."

"It's… not that bad Blake."

The Faunus glared at her, clearly she disagreed.

"Okay… it might seem bad, but I promise you it isn't. I doubt anyone can even see it on TV, let alone in the stands."

"I guess." She sighed. "It's still… whatever, it doesn't matter."

Weiss studied at her teammate for a moment. "After the tournament, I'm going to accept that interview; the one from Lisa Lavender. I want you to do it with me."

"What?!" Blake stared, eyes wide. "Why?"

"isn't it obvious? You're a Faunus, and even if you don't mention who your father is, being next to me, a Schnee, could send a message to people… have… have you told Yang yet?"

Blake looked away, it was enough of an answer.

Weiss sighed. "After the tournament, you tell her or I will, this time for real."

"…Okay."

"Come on," Weiss said, smiling in an effort to dispel the mood. "We still have to win for team RWBY. The two of them would never let us live it down if we lost."

The monochrome pair made their way down the rest of the hallway and into the open arena. This was their second time in front of the roaring crowds, and Weiss could still feel the excitement whirl inside her. This time, Winter was there somewhere. Either in the crowd or watching from somewhere else.

She could finally show her sister what she'd learnt.

They made it to the centre of the stage, though for some reason their opponents still hadn't arrived. Were they running late?

"So what's the plan Weiss?" the Faunus asked, drawing her sword.

Weiss hummed. "I'm not sure yet," she admitted honestly. "obviously we should stay together, with my zone control and your agility we can form a plan around that, but we can't be certain until we see the capabilities of the pair we're up against. All we can assume is that they'll have advance Atlas technology and military-like training."

"Reasonable," Blake said. "Do you think we should have watched more of the fights to think up a strategy then?"

"It wouldn't have made much of a difference," the heiress said with a shake of her head. "People work differently in doubles than they do as a full team. The most we might have gleaned is their semblances, if they even used them at all in the first round."

She paused. "Still, we should be wary. There's no telling what tricks they have up their-

She was cut off as smoothing zipped by her and kicked up a gust of wind. Weiss whipped around only to find no one there, and when she turned back, two people stood before her.

She stopped, blinking:

There in front of her were their opponents. Right away she could tell what had happened, the bright one had somehow gotten behind her. A speed semblance perhaps?

Beside her Weiss could see Blake wince and she could see why:

She was a cat Faunus, though with a tail instead of ears like Blake but while Blake's attire was dark, practical and sombre. This girl was…

Everything.

It was… it was so _bright!_ Like a someone had taken a rainbow of colours and flat-out dumped them on the girl. And what was she doing on rollerblades? What even was her weapon?

The other one wasn't much better.

A trumpet? Really?

These two _were_ from Atlas, weren't they?

"Hey," the dark-skinned male said. "You're Weiss Schnee right? The Heiress of the Schnee dust company?"

"Oh! Yes, I am." She wasn't sure why being recognised had surprised her, but it had. Maybe it was just the acknowledgement that-

"Yeah, I can tell just by looking at you," he went out, far less friendly than before. "The little princess that thinks she can be a Huntress."

… _What?_

He wasn't finished. "You know, it's your dad's fault my dad lost everything, he probably ruined hundreds of other people too and you stand here like nothings wrong. I guess all Schnee's are twisted right?" he smirked. "I'm going to enjoy showing you what a real Huntsman looks like."

The girl beside him laughed. "Good one Flynt. It's weird though right?" she said, turning to look at Blake. "What's a Faunus doing with a Schnee? Shouldn't you two be killing each other now? I mean, her family kill Faunus all the time in the mines right?"

Weiss recoiled as if she'd been slapped but the damage had already been done. How had she forgotten? All her time around Blake had made her forget about the Faunus closer to home, the ones that worked in the mines, the ones in mantle. The girl's comment hadn't been directed at her, but it-

"How about you mind your own business?" Blake hissed. "If you think you can get in our heads with pathetic judgment like that you're wrong. All you've done I give me a reason to bury your face in the dirt, and I intend to deliver."

Weiss flit her lip twitch upward as the duo looked at her in shock. "You know," she said. "It looks like Yang's rubbing off on you more than you think."

" _Get ready for battle!"_ Port sounded from above.

" _3…"_

" _2…"_

" _1…"_

" _Begi-"_

Weiss was blown back by some unknown force before Port had even finished speaking, spinning in the air, landing on her feet and skidding back.

She only managed to come to a stop thanks to her glyphs. Blake had no such protection and was propelled back into the ruined city quarter of the arena.

The heiress' eyes narrowed as she took another look at the teen in front of her. He was smirking at her, but he held himself with confidence that spoke he was ready to act.

That blast.

So his trumpet wasn't just for show then?

There was an easy way to find out.

Weiss reached out with one hand, summoning a trio of fire glyphs and hurled all three at him once.

The smirk on his face grew wider as he brought the instrument to his lips.

Her eyes widened when the noise that came from the trumpet was coupled with a blast that snuffed out her fire and pushed her back another step.

So it was a weapon. It didn't seem to be a conventional weapon. Sound wasn't enough to do things like that to fire, it wasn't even that loud. Was it dust? Some kind of semblance. One thing was for sure; she'd been right about advanced technology. It wasn't a usual offensive weapon, perhaps even focusing more on support. One thing was for sure, it was still dangerous.

But still… a trumpet?

"What's the matter Schnee?" he called form the other side of the platform. "Scared already?"

Her lips thinned into a line.

Once again, Qrow's words came to her:

" _In a fight, the one talking is usually the one who'd distracted. Words are for before and after, but during a fight the only thing with a damn is actions. Every second matters and a mistake could cost you your life so don't open yourself up by talking when you could be winning. The only exceptions are if your stalling or you know enough to mess with your opponent otherwise the best thing you can do is stay quiet and focus."_

With that in mind, Weiss didn't answer and instead lunged in. Flynt saw it coming and blasted another soundwave right at her.

She winced as it ran off her aura, and worse slowed her down enough for him to sidestep out of the way and deliver a kick to her side.

She took it with a grunt, but instead of falling like he probably expected she pun on her heel and shot her heel into his chest. He stumbled and she moved into close quarters. The close range wasn't her speciality, but with that weapon either was it his. The heiress took advantage of that, striking at his throat with her palm.

The Atlas student saw it coming and tried to back away. He was partially successful, and her attack missed his neck, but still landed painfully on his jaw. He brought his trumpet up but Weiss was already sliding away, out of his range.

He growled, rubbing his chin whilst glaring at her.

"Dirty move Schnee."

She almost baulked. Dirty move?! Was he serious? This was a fight!

" _Remember this brat's, in a fight everything is allowed," Qrow imparted to team RWBY after a spar where he'd kicked them around. "Every dirty move, every cheap trick and hit below the belt is applicable when fighting somebody. The idea is to deal as much damage and inflict as much pain on the other guy as possible. To win. If you remember that then nobody should be able to do the same to you."_

"Fine," he spat when she didn't reply. "Guess I'll show you what real skill and hard work looks like."

And then suddenly there were four of him.

Weiss raised Myrtenaster. This had just got a whole lot more complicated.

At the other side of the arena Blake rolled back as the other cat Faunus took a high swing over her head.

She was fast, really fast.

The only reason she was able to keep up was because her eyes could track her movements. If Blake had been any slower, any less agile she might have been at a disadvantage, but she was used to speed semblances, Ruby had drilled the basics of defence against it into all of them.

With speed semblances came the idea from its users that they were to fast to be hit and so fell into predictable patterns. Wit this girl on roller-skates, it also meant linear movements.

Practically speaking, Blake could hit her, and she already had a few times. The problem wasn't the fight itself.

But this girl…

"You know, those colours don't look good on you. You look like an emo are you an emo? Do you read dark poetry? Do you stay indoors all-day?"

Just wouldn't stop talking.

"I was thinking actually," the girl went on, though not before striking at Blake from the front and managing to score a hit. She wasn't faster than Ruby, actually she was slower by a lot, but her weapon had some kind of dust properties that were making it harder to predict.

"Seeing you really annoys me. You wanna know why?"

Blake really didn't, she was to busy trying to hit her. This was infuriating on the highest level. Her voice was so grating.

Blackened ichor crawled its way up Blake's neck.

"You stand there beside that Schnee and act all buddy-buddy with her like what she's a part of is no big deal. I was born in Mantle you know, had to drag myself up from it, as hard as I could, all the way to Atlas for a better life."

Blake grit her teeth as she missed her strike on Neon. If she had the ability to bait her in this wouldn't be a problem, but her semblance wasn't working. She hadn't tried it since she'd gotten back to Beacon.

"But I was fine with my situation. I mean,m Faunus have it bad everywhere yeah but Mantle is just expected to be worse. When I got into Atlas I thought I'd never have to hear about the Schnee's again, about their dust mines, about their businesses or about _them_. Didn't happen though, because next thing I know my partner Flynt finds out his dad was ran out of business by the same family."

Neon's face morphed from a happy-go-lucky smile to a sneer in seconds. "But then I see _you_ , a Faunus who talks to the Schnee like she's a normal person, like her family hasn't done anything wrong. I bet you're one of the Faunus who got the easy life here in Vale. You probably never had to struggle did you? You never had to fight like the rest of us for your freedom."

Blake forced herself to take a breath. Katt was just trying to get in her head, mess with her so she'd slip up. She had to ignore it.

On the next pass, the dark Faunus sidestepped Neon's attack, before ducking under and reaching out with her free hand.

The other girl shrieked as a hand clasped around her tail and yanked her back into the pommel of Gambol Shroud. Her back arched in pain as in slammed into her spine and Aura flared. She fell forwards, rolled back and stumbled in a desperate attempt not to lose her balance.

When the Atlesian girl stopped she sent Blake a glare and scoffed. "I saw the rest of your team too. They're just as bad."

Blake tensed. She better not-

"I mean really, some pipsqueak brat leading your team is bad enough, really makes you all look like a joke, but the other one?" Neon sped up, circling Blake faster and faster. "Typical blonde bimbo material, with that ugly looking hair and body of hers, yuck! What's beacon even doing letting in a cripple?"

A dark, twisted feeling rolled in her gut.

She just wanted this _bitch_ to _shut up_!

 _Snap!_

Neon let out a shriek as Blake's left arm twisted backwards, bending against the way a person's natural joints should allow them along with the sound of bones snapping and muscle tearing.

The pink Faunus stumbled from the shock, and one of her arms was trapped as Blake's hand closed around it.

And _squeezed_.

"A-ah!" Neon cried, trying to regain her footing, but in such an awkward position with one arm held above her head the rollerblades made it even harder.

She looked up.

And froze.

As she saw the black ichor that was crawling it's way up the left side of Blake's face. A face filled with rage.

Savage, animalistic, rage.

Blake growled.

And Neon screamed.

Across the filed, Weiss crashed onto the ground, rolling painfully as she did so. She winced as her eyes sought out the scoreboard and showed her aura dipping down further. It was less than fifty percent now. That wasn't ideal.

His semblance, was incredibly powerful; the ability to multiply one's state into four people was insane and from the looks of it they could synchronise there attacks like it was second nature. The fact was he had her outnumbered and her combination of all four trumpets was a frightening one.

But…

Flynt smirked at her form as she pushed herself onto one knee. "What's the matter Schnee, have you finally gotten a good look at what a really Huntsman is like? Must be painful knowing all that money of yours means nothing here. I bet you-"

"Oh shut up."

He froze, the tone of her voice, bored and dry, and stopped him in his tracks. Weiss rolled her sword arm slowly, working out a kink. "What did you say Schnee?"

"I said shut up," she drawled. "I mean, what's _wrong_ with you? This who time you haven't stopped with the insults and really bad ones at that, my father's said worse to me on the days he's feeling friendly."

"Wha-"

"You do realise this is a fight right?" she interrupted again. "If you have a problem with me personally – which you shouldn't, since I've never met you before – then deal with it after the fight. All you've accomplished is making me tired of your voice."

"I-"

"And what _are_ you trying to suggest anyway? It's almost like you have some sort of inferiority complex. You keep comparing yourself to me like you have something to prof. it's actually kind of sad."

The Atlesian student's face contorted in anger. "Big talk coming from someone who was just on their ass!" he growled. "You think you beat me with how much you've been beaten already?"

"I do actually," she answered easily. "Because there's one thing you seem to be forgetting; I am a Huntress-in-training," behind herm a glyph formed at her feet, glowing brightly. Flynt's eyes widened. "I am a student of Beacon, and a member of team RWBY,"

Weiss allowed a smirk to spread across her face. His semblance was a fantastic one, but she had it figured out:

It granted a numbers advantage and increased firepower but the truth was that most of it was simply intimidation. He had next to no mobility while it was in use, and despite what might have looked like, it wasn't that his clones worked well with him, it was that they couldn't do anything on their own. That was why he used a trumpet. It was the only thing that mashed well with his abilities.

Weiss has something to counter that.

She hadn't perfected it, over the summer she'd realise that she wasn't quite there yet, not to the scale she'd faced originally, but in that weakness she'd found something else.

Her summon, she could summon something her size, human-sized and fight _with it_ rather than have it coy her moves. It could make up for her lack of swinging potential, it could defend her openings and allow for even more dangerous attacks.

The Arma Gigas appeared behind her, a thinner, longer sword in its armoured hands.

Flynt took a step back.

"This fight was decided the moment you revealed your grudge against me."

He glared at her. "So you exploited that? Guess you really are a Schnee."

And just like that, her smile turned cold. "Oh, and one more thing," she said, as if she'd forgotten something and was just realising it now. "My _name_ is Weiss."

* * *

…

…

* * *

The doors before Pyrrha opened and she stepped into the headmaster office.

She'd gotten the summons a few minutes ago, and it had left no room for arguments. Not that she'd have argued to begin with. They'd been attacked so close to the school, Amber had been downed and she'd been no better. No doubt the headmaster had heard from the older girl what had happened, and that Pyrrha was being called only spoke of how serious he was taking this.

Still she felt some nervousness on her trip up, and a great deal of confusion once she realised who was present:

There was Headmaster Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch of course, and Amber, sitting at the other side of the desk. However there was also General Ironwood at one side, and a man with dark hair she'd never met before leaning against the wall at one side and… Ruby?

What… was she doing here? And why did she have such a pensive look on her face?

"Miss Nikos," the headmaster greeted kindly. "It's good that you're here, please, take a seat."

She did so, though she tried to catch Ruby's eyes all the way. What was she doing here? What was the general doing here? What exactly was she expected to talk about?

It was hard to gather herself though, with the screen on Ozpins desk playing the fight between Weiss and Blake and their opponents. (Another question for Ruby, shouldn't she be there cheering them on?) At the moment, Weiss was soundly decimating her enemy, and though it was only in the corner of the screen due to the spectacle being on Weiss, she could see Blake dealing with her own foe brutally.

Pyrrha actually found herself flinching at the savageness displayed by the Faunus. Was no one else seeing this?

And then the screen blinked off, Ozpin sending her a knowing look as to where her attention had been, right, there were other matters to deal with

She'd already run the conversation through her head; most likely she'd be asked her take on what had transpired, what did she remember, had she been hurt in any way, did she know who the attacker was. She didn't obviously, but she doubted there was much they could do now that the moment had-

"Tell me, what's your favourite fairy-tale?"

And in an instant her train of thought had been derailed, leaving her to blink in confusion at the man in front of her.

"I'm sorry?"

"Fairytales." He repeated curiously. "Stories you hear whilst growing up, from your childhood or otherwise. Do you remember any of them? Your favourites perhaps?"

"I…" what was she supposed to say? She fought for something, but her mind drew a blank.

"No? that's fine, perhaps you will when I mention a few… how about the day of the black sun? or the White lady?... or the story of the seasons?"

"Oh!" Pyrrha suddenly perked up. "Yes, my mother told me that one when I was a child, she loves it."

Ozpin smiled at her. "It is a good story isn't it. It sounds like your mother has good tastes."

In the corner of her eye, Pyrrha was sure she saw Ruby _twitch_ violently.

The headmaster didn't seem to catch it. "What do you remember about it Miss Nikos if I may ask?"

"Well… I remember there was a wizard, and four young girls who helped him see the importance of life again… and that in the end he gave them great powers to help others like they did with him. It's a fairly simple story, though I suppose that's why it stuck."

He hummed softly. "I see… well would you believe me if I told you Amber here was one of those maidens?"

"…I… what?"

"Amber," he repeated. "She is the maiden of Fall, one of the four women in this world and we have decided to give you a task – should you accept it – that I believe no one else is fit to fill."

The champion barely heard him. She was to busy staring at the older girl beside her. Amber saw her look and smiled. It was faked, nervous, Pyrrha could tell easily but it just made things worse. What was…

She looked to Ruby again, but this time, instead of catching her eyes, Ruby looked away.

Away from her.

This was… this was serious wasn't it? They were really telling her about a fairy-tale really existing.

The powers she'd seen Amber use in their fight with that woman… was that the power of a maiden?

"What-" she swallowed. "What kind of task are you talking about."

Ozpin met her gaze with a solemn intensity she found herself unable to break away from.

"You are to be the guardian of the Fall maiden, her bodyguard."

 _What?_

Ozpin explained to her who they were; an order that hid the existence of the maidens from the world. That the power they were talking about was _magic_ , and how she was to be a part of that, becoming Ambers defender.

All the while, Pyrrha couldn't help but take in everything around her as the Headmaster spoke.

Miss Goodwitch was calm, listening to Ozpins words with a feeling of assuredness in what he was saying, the same could be said for the dark haired man, the one Ozpin introduced as Qrow. Amber was quiet, taking in as much of this information as her. Was it news to her too?

But… not everyone was in agreement it seemed.

It was a tiny thing, subtle twitches of the face, but Pyrrha had been in the spotlight long enough to learn when people were faking things, hiding their expressions. Ironwood _was not pleased_ with this. For whatever reason, he disagreed with her inclusion. She couldn't even feel offended by that, she barely had a clue what was going on, Ozpin was acting like it was nothing, like he was telling her the sky was blue or water was wet.

And Ruby still wasn't looking at her.

Magic, the singular word raced through her head. This was… magic. Why her? Why had she been picked?

She voiced her question aloud and the headmaster smiled at her.

"I believe you have potential Miss Nikos, to grow not only into an excellent Huntress, but someone who could join us, someone who could help us protect the world as we know it, and perhaps even one day save it. All you have to do to begin your journey, is accept this task."

Accept it? This conversation was still in her mind being processed.

Magic. Magic was real and Amber was a being of immense power. Ozpin, the other headmasters were part of some… secret group that no-one knew about. What did this mean for the world? Laws, religions, society as a whole… how much had it been influenced by these secrets being withheld? How could it have changed the world?

And Ruby was a part of all this, from the beginning she'd been part of this secret group. Had this always been the case? Had she always been the person Ozpin wanted to pick for this? Had Ruby been her friend or just gotten close to report back to the headmaster? Was she being paranoid?

"Can… can I have some… some time to think about it?"

Again, an almost grandfatherly smile. "Of course, this is an important decision, however, I would ask you to have made your decision at the end of the festival… are we clear?"

" _You must be prepared for a fight, there will be one… do not tell the headmaster, for your own safety, I'm sure he already has plans for you."_

Those words, that warning echoed through her mind. Was this what that woman had meant? No, something else was going on here, something they weren't telling her.

Pyrrha bowed her head and stood up. Amber still hadn't said a word, nor had Ruby. It made her uncomfortable.

"Miss Rose, please accompany Miss Nikos down as you go. I'm sure she has a lot to think about… a friend to talk to would be good for both of you."

The younger girl hesitated, but after a pointed look from the man, nodded and followed the champion into the elevator. The doors closed, and the two of them fell into an awkward silence.

It dragged on, for one, two, three, four, five seconds. The only sound was the machinery above and below them, the shunting of metal.

Eventually. Finally, Ruby spoke.

"Pyrrha I-"

"Were you my friend?"

The younger redhead blinked, turning to stare at Pyrrha in confusion, shock. The Mistralian didn't let it faze her. Or she did, but pushed on despite it.

"Were you actually my friend or did you fake it? Did you fake being kind to me, in taking an interest in what I said just because you were told to?"

"What? No I-"

"It's the same thing, I can't believe it." Pyrrha's laugh was bitter. Ruby was trying to explain herself, she knew that, a logical part of her mind begged her to give Ruby a chance to prove that she was just making this up. But she couldn't listen, wouldn't, because it was all too familiar.

"Back in Mistral it was the same. People would get close to me, so many people, not because of me, but because of what I was, a champion fighter, an idol, someone famous. This is the same, just for different reasons and I-" her voice failed her. Was she crying? No, but she felt like she might.

Pyrrha clenched her teeth, forcing down her feelings. The doors opened and she rushed out, Ruby called out to her and out of habit she replied. "We're going out tonight aren't we? CRDL, CVFY and the others all promised we'd go out together. If you want to explain things, do it then. If you can even come up with a proper excuse for being a part of… this… I'm going to talk to my team."

Ruby watched her go. The reaper's eyes gazing at the champions back as they separated.

She let out a sigh, a long, tired on.

Damn Ozpin, what was her thinking with this? What was the plan?

Suddenly, her scroll buzzed. The girl blinked, opening up the messages and seeing a curious contact.

It was Winter.

' _Miss Rose, I wish for us to convene to discuss matters in a more relaxed manner. I have discussed this situation with my sister and I believe it would be better for me to get a proper opinion of her partner. I do not wish for this to feel like an imbalance, so I give you the choice as to where we will dine. Tonight is when I am available, I will leave the rest to you."_

Cold, professional and mildly intimidating, yep, she was Weiss' sister alright.

Ruby frowned. If she was serious – which she was sure Winter was – it meant her and Weiss wouldn't be able to make it to the club with the others… or, maybe they could, they'd just be late. But there was something else to this. Winter was testing her, judging her on something, she just wasn't sure on what.

Was it whether or not she was a decent partner?

If that was the case, she needed to make an impression.

There was still the thing with Pyrrha though…

Ruby's eyes hardened, her decision made. She sent a text to Yang, hoping she'd be able to deal with it, that she could trust her to help, and then dialled another of her contacts. It rang twice.

"Cardin?" she said. "Listen, there's something going on tonight, I won't be able to make it… yeah, it's still on, we might be able to get there late if we try… yeah we, listen, I need to cash in a certain favour, you know from a way back… could you help me arrange something?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang's obsidian hand drifted along a scarred tree trunk.

This was it, the place Pyrrha had been attacked. Still a secret around Beacon, but Ruby had told her right way. It made her happy in a way she wasn't quite she sure of, that her sister trusted her like that.

That didn't matter right now though, right now, she'd decided to investigate, to see what was really going on.

She mightn't of in any other situation, this was the sort of thing she was probably better staying away from in case she got caught by Ozpin looking somewhere she shouldn't have even known about…

But Amber had told the headmaster what her attacker had looked like. Ruby had been there… and the description was a familiar one.

The question was even more complicated because of it: Why had Raven attacked the Fall Maiden?

The first thing to came to mind was for the power, but then, why did she let her live? Why had she even been here? The same woman, who she knew now had saved her at Mountain Glenn, had appeared again, in Ozpin's territory, the person she'd turned against, and made herself known.

Yang didn't know, but maybe the way she could find out was by looking around the site where she'd appeared. Maybe there would be answers there.

It was a little hard though, considering her tagalongs.

"Woah." Sun gaped, eyes wide as he took in the carnage, beside him, Neptune was much the same, though a little more cautious. She didn't blame them. The clearing was a wreck. Yang wasn't even sure it used to _be_ a clearing.

Him and Neptune had been there when she'd gotten the message from Ruby, and when they found out about what had happened (in more mundane terms obviously) they decided that if she was going to check it out she should have people to watch her back. A nice sentiment sure, but it made things a little trickier.

"This place is a mess." Neptune said, scanning the surroundings. They were still in the Emerald Forest, which meant Grimm _could_ show up and cause trouble if they weren't careful. Still he was right; trees all around had been splintered and scorched, some incinerated and one was even uprooted. As in, completely uprooted, torn out of the ground. Had that been Amber's doing? Ruby had told her the maidens were supposed to be way stronger and faster than they should have been.

There were also chunks of rock and dirt flung in all direction, all bursting out from a crater in the ground with soot and burns stretching across the grass. But… there was something wrong with this picture.

Yang kneeled down, taking one of the chunks in her hand and running a thumb over it.

It was slightly marked on the smoother side, the outside. From what Amber had told Ruby she'd managed to encase Raven in stone and then burnt it just to be safe… but here, it looked like it had been burned from the _inside_ as well, by a far hotter flame.

She dropped the stone and stood up again, taking a few steps back to take it all in. she focused, and her eyes flashed red.

Sun caught sight of it and flinched. "Woah, are you okay? What's wrong did I do something to make you mad?"

"Relax," she murmured. "I'm working on something."

Yang's eyes were special. Not one of a kind, but since the Branwen tribe and others like it were rare their ability to see magic where others could simply sense it was scarcely documented.

The grimoire from the Order _had_ mentioned it however, and what it was useful for.

Magic was incredible and fantastical, but it was energy like anything else and because of that it left behind traces of itself when used, that 'waste energy' that machines created that went back into the environment.

She could see it here now, all around her like steam, but thicker, and brightly coloured.

Her eyes really changed everything. Even her vision was different, like everything had a crimson tint to it. It held make magic traces stand out with vibrancy. Right now, those traces emanated from the trees, the grown and the air. It looked faint, less concentrated. Was this Amber's power?

The Fall maiden hadn't noticed anything magical about Raven but that could just be from a lack of attention, or that it wasn't used in an obvious way. No matter how strong you were, even Yang couldn't backhand trees away like they were nothing.

Raven could have been a magi like her, it had to come from somewhere right?

Maybe… but the crater gave a different story.

Her chest warmed under her skin. That was another thing too; she'd apparently gotten something else from the doctor that she'd figured out over the summer.

Her other sense were stronger, sharper, more intense.

Yang could _taste_ the magic near the crater. It was hard to describe, something like a spice, it made her tongue tingle in a strangely pleasant way.

Magic traces around the crater and inside it were far, far stronger than anything else. It was purer, more raw.

Her scroll buzzed suddenly and the brawler blinker, her eyes fading back to lilac. It was Ruby.

…that was… definitely a thing.

Yang sighed.

"What is it?" Sun asked. "You find anything?"

"No," she sighed again. "I've got a thought but right now… it doesn't mean anything. I just got something more important to deal with right now though." She turned to them. "Come on, I guess I'll bring you two along to the club with me tonight."

Neptune blinked. "Are… you even going to ask us if we wanted to go?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What? You're saying you don't wanna come with?"

"I never said that."

The laughed and walked past him back to the school, patting him on the back as she did so. "Come on twinkle toes, let's get out of here already."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss swallowed nervously.

Weiss didn't know why she was nervous, she new realistically she had no reason to be, this was just going to be a simple meal, an opportunity for her sister to actually get to know her partner and talk things out. Yes she had been surprised when Winter had suggested it, and hesitant when she'd suggested tonight, (Coco had been adamant about them all spending time together, but she couldn't say no to her sister seeing that she would most likely be returning to Atlas after the festival) but logically she knew there was nothing to worry about, it wasn't like Winter would _attack_ Ruby.

..right?

No, no she was just worrying for the sake of it. She had nothing to worry about. They'd [probably eat at a dinner or a café Ruby had picked out and they could start from there. The younger girl had already sent her the location, though she'd never been to this part of the city admittedly. It was classy to be sure.

Winter hummed beside her. "Are you alright Weiss? You look nervous."

Oh great, now her sister was pointing it out. She wasn't nervous dammit!

She smiled up at her. "I'm fine sister, just thinking about the upcoming fights." It was a half-lie. The thoughts hadn't been at the forefront of her mind, but they were there.

Another hum from the elder Schnee. Weiss took the chance to look down at herself. She was dressed for this wasn't she? Winter wore her specialist uniform, which was a sort of standard for her that showed professionalism, but Weiss had gone for a blue dress that faded to white and ended above the knees. It was expensive, new. Was it too much? Was the shrug overdoing it? Why was this even worrying her anyway?

She let out a huff. It didn't matter what she was thinking, whatever it was, it was ridiculous. This would be fine. It was only a meal.

"Weiss!" a familiar voice called out to her and the Heiress' head perked up to see Ruby waving her over from a line of people.

The first thing she took in was Ruby's attire; It was the same dress she'd worn to the Beacon dance, though it seemed to be let out a little, longer and tighter in some- ahem… n-never mind.

There were other things too, like the line itself. It was full of people, queuing out the door and along the building, each and every person there looked far older than her, and very, _very_ rich. They wore tailored suits, long flowing dressed pearl necklaces and diamond earrings, the high society, upper class.

Where exactly had Ruby brought them?

The question was answered a moment later when her eyes flickered up to the name of the restaurant, and it was a restaurant.

 _Fæger Hatheort._

Weiss only knew because of its popularity, but it was the old Valean language. And it _was_ popular. No, calling it that was an understatement, it was famous, the name of one of the most exemplary restaurant chains in Remnant. There was one it Atlas too.

A not of worry made isn't way into Weiss' stomach. Did Ruby know this? Did she have a reservation for a place like this? Could she even _afford_ a place like this? The heiress had lived with Ruby for the summer, she knew that while her family was well off, they weren't rich.

"Interesting choice," Winter said, giving a hint at her opinion. "I believe this place changed hands recently. It used to be just be called _Restaurant_."

Weiss _did_ know of that place too. One of the best places in Vale, with the best chefs and staff. They would likely still be working here with even more talent brought in from around the world.

Her sister didn't say anything else, so they made their way over to Ruby, who was getting quite a few glares from the other patrons waiting outside. The fact that she was young, and loud, clearly contrasted with their own sombre presences. They didn't like it.

The recognised the Schnee's however and their gazes turned away when they got close.

Ruby grinned as they got into line beside her. "I'm glad you guys made it, it was starting to get awkward with all these people staring at me, ugh, I hate these heels."

Weiss looked down, she was in fact wearing heels, something she knew her partner hated.

"Then why are you wearing them?" she asked, if only because it was Ruby, who she knew wouldn't take offence to it.

"This is a fancy place, right?" the redhead added reasonably. "I can't wear combat boots here, I'm pretty sure they'd kick me out."

That knot coiled again. "Can we even get in?" Weiss whispered. If Ruby made a mistake with this because she wasn't aware of the rules it would be embarrassing, Winter wouldn't be impressed. She might have been able to salvage it if her account had been available to her but it wasn't.

Ruby just shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

The heiress paled. Find out? Oh no this was going to be awful.

Winter was watching, she couldn't even suggest they try somewhere else. She began to sweat, this was going to be bad.

A few agonising minutes later they made it to the front door where the greeter waited for them. The man raised an eyebrow at the appearance of the Schnee's but it went even higher when Ruby stepped forward. Even so, he spoke in a professional manner, repeated a line he'd probably repeated dozens of times that night already.

"Good evening Madame's, do you have a reservation for tonight?"

"Uh, there should be a reservation here, for Rose?"

"Rose," he echoed, eyes scanning the paper before him. "Let's see here… it-" he froze, gasped loudly and even Winter looked up sharply.

"M-Madame Rose, my goodness, if we had known of your arrival we would have brought you right in, please forgive us."

"Um…" Ruby blinked.

The man signalled for half a dozen waitresses that appeared out from the doors. They were far better dressed than the others Wiess could spy through the doors, and all looked like they hadn't even worked the night yet.

Weiss shared a look with her sister, who sent her a questioning look. Weiss answered with much the same, she was just as confused.

Either way they were ushered in and an employee offered to take Winter's coat. Though she refused politely it was clear she was just as surprised by all of this, and watching Ruby closely.

Weiss' mouth practically dropped when she realised they were being taken to a balcony upstairs overlooking the other guest below, who were giving them disbelieving stares.

The entire floor was theirs, all of it, a single table was placed in the centre with statues, monuments, painting, artistic painted glass and even water-features surrounding it. There were candles lit for the perfect lighting and soft music playing in the background, as well as a paper shutter they could have closed if they wished to cut out the sight of the other patrons below.

The table was set out for three, and they sat down after the waiters and waitresses arrived behind them.

"This is… interesting." Winter noted.

"I… honestly had no idea this was what we were getting." Ruby admitted, and from the way she flushed Weiss could well believe it. "I only asked for a table for the three of us to talk privately."

"How did you even-"

Then, another man appeared, and Weiss realised instantly from the way he was dressed, the way he walked that he was the one overseeing this Restaurant.

His eyes ran over the Schnee sister, but kept going, and lit up when they fell on Ruby. She made his way over to her and when he was close enough, bowed.

 _Bowed._ _To Ruby!_

"Madame Rose." He said. "It's an honour to meet your acquittance. I hope the table is too your liking."

"U-um, yes, it's… it's great, thank you. Sorry, I'm a little surprised by all of this, I wasn't expected this much."

"I was informed of as much."

The man responded. "No doubt you remember that we worked under a different name last time you were here."

 _Last time?!_

Weiss shot a look at Winter, who stared back just as shocked. Ruby had been here before? When? How? What on Remnant was going on?

"From the time we were of course under new management." He went on to explain. "Our new owners hear that you wished to make a reservation here from your mutual associate and decided this would better suit you. Madame Mirark Godwebb sends her regards in that respect and hopes you appreciate her decision."

Ruby's eyes lit up in recognition, though Weiss had never heard the name Mirark before… no… no that was wrong, she'd heard it once before not that she thought about it; in hushed and awed whispers from her father speaking to the board of directors.

That meant they were powerful, powerful and respected enough for even her father to treat them as such.

How did Ruby know someone like that?

It was happening again, more and more questions were surfacing.

Ruby smiled. "Tell her I said thank you… and… pass on a message for me," her eyes flicked to the two of them, and Weiss' breath left her as she saw those eyes, from Glenn. Sharp, calculating, deadly. "as discreetly as possible."

Rub leaned in as the man did the same, lips to his ear Weiss realised she unconsciously strained to hear what was being said. She managed it however, though if she was even an inch further away she doubted she would have been able to."

" _Tell her to gather the Order' defences. Whatever's about to happen, it's about to happen now, very, very soon."_

What?

Whereas Weiss had no clue, the man swallowed. "I-I understand," and the heiress knew he did. He understood something she didn't, something Winter didn't. "I will inform her right away, you have my word. Please, enjoy your night Madame Rose, the waiters will be here to talk your orders momentarily."

And with another bow he turned and practically powerwalked his way out of there.

Just… what?

Ruby met their stares with a tentative smile.

"So," she said. "Should we eat?"

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **So, Things are moving along, to me, it feels like a lot happened, though maybe just because I'm the one writing it. Another tournament fight, Pyrrha gets involved in the secret world in a way a** _bit_ **different from the original story, Detective Yang is on the case at Beacon and Weiss gets another surprise,**

 **Lets go in order shall we?**

 **No, I know a few might be upset because I cut away from the fights, but I have very good reasons for that, for both Blake and Weiss, the very important things were hinted at thought not explicitly shown. I'm a firm believer that f something happens to a character, (like a power up or character change) it should be around other relevant character, (Protagonists and antagonists alike) and this is of course just my opinion and you're free to think otherwise, but it HATE Neon and Flynt. to me, they're pointless, meme characters, and worse than that, Neon specifically screws the whole idea that Faunus are discriminated against in Atlas. She's not only in a huntsman school, but she's far, far too happy.**

 **Maybe it's just me, but if they'd given us** _something_ **to hint at a darker ton with her surface personality i might have been happy, hut no, Nyan cat is good enough. You can like them if you want though, this is purely an opinion.**

 **you will get more of the summon and Blake's... whatever happened with her, but in far more serius ircumstances, mark my words.**

 **Next, Pyrrha. Not much to say, only because not much changed. Obviously Amber's still around, so it wasn't going to go the way it wen tin the show, but I still have a path for Pyrrha, and this is the way it begins. little bit of tension beteen the two redheads though, I wonder what might happen between them.**

 **Yang, being Yang and maybe possibly also the next Sherlock homes, what are you doing Yang? that isn't your Avatar!**

 **and Weiss. you knwo, i had this scene in my head since I brought up the resurtant scene with Cardin a while back. I'm not finished with it yet, more for next chaoter, but i felt i needed to get this to you sooner that waiting even longer and in the end I realsied it makes better pacing sense if I left it for next time.**

 **I also wanted _another scene_ here but left it out for next time too, it would have made the chapter too long.**

 **Things are getting closer, close to what we've been waiting for.**

 **On another not, the character short for Adam came out, loved it, of course and makes me excited for Vol 6. cautious optimism people, for things you enjoy, that should always be the way to go I think, less stressful that way. And you can be damn sure I'll be listening to Lionized when it comes out in full. It has some... interesting lyrics.**

 **And Adam used a lot of kicks in his fighting stlye during the short.**

 **hmm... who do we know that deosn't fair well againt kicks?**

 **Hmm.**

 **Anyway, that's all I've got for now, hop you liked it, it was written in two days so hopefully there aren't many mistakes, man, a beta yelling at me would make this so much easier.**

 **Anyway, if you liked it, be sure to follow, favourite and review, it goes a long way to encourage me and help me improve.**

 **Thankyou and goodbye!**

 **P a treon (Slash) WSpectre . com**


	36. Darkness falls: Part 1

Weiss wasn't sure if she was squealing or dying on the inside but it might have been a mixture of both to be honest.

Dinner was going well, fantastically even. The food was delicious, the service amazing and Winter actually seemed to be getting along well with Ruby. It probably helped that apparently Ruby had some connections… somehow and now the older Schnee was interested to see how that had occurred by getting to know the younger girl.

"I will admit I was slightly worried at first when I heard from Weiss that someone so young was appointed team leader, but from the mission list I have seen you have had an excellent success rate."

"Well," Ruby laughed. "We've only been on two missions, not much to compare really."

"Oh?" Winter raised an eyebrow and smiled. "So your spat at the docks with Roman Torchwick, your fight at a White Fang rally as well as an Atlesian paladin prototype isn't to be considered?"

"E-eh heh…" Weiss flushed. "How did you… how did you know about that?"

"I've said it before Weiss, as a soldier, these things are bound to get back to me, especially when they involve you."

Right… that… made sense. Uh, thank goodness it hadn't gotten back to her father. There would be a ship waiting to take her home instantly.

"So," Winter said again. "I would like to apologise Miss Rose for that assumption. I know it is not fair to judge people on just first impression."

Her partner scratched the back of her head, cheeks red with embarrassment. "I-It's fine. You can call me Ruby by the way, and uh, I know I wasn't what people expected. I didn't think I'd be leader of my team. I kind of thought it would be Weiss."

The heiress in question shook her head. "I've said it before Ruby, you are an excellent reason. In fact it was you who took control during initiation when combating that horde of Grimm. Without you I'm sure it would have been a disaster. No doubt that is why Ozpin picked you as a leader."

"I'm not so sure." She mumbled.

"Well, despite that you have done well for yourself." Winter said. "Especially in catching up with subject matter no doubt at your age. Fifteen is it?"

"Well, Sixteen next month." She laughed. "but yeah, I guess so. Weiss had been helping me study all this time though, so she's as much to thank, right Weiss?"

"A-ah! Yes, of course."

"Is something wrong sister?"

The heiress flushed. "It's nothing, I just didn't know your um, that your birthday was coming up soon."

"Is that valuable information for you Weiss?"" her sister asked.

The Heiress' eyes narrowed. She could _hear_ the smile in her voice. Bah! What did winter know? She just cared because Ruby was her friend, her partner! What was so suspicious about that?

Nothing, that was what! Nothing at all! Winter was just confused, completely confused about the situation, and she'd made it weird. So what if Ruby was having a birthday and Weiss would probably be there? So what if it meant they had a chance to talk alone together and get closer and-

"Weiss?"

"Wh-uh-what?" she blinked.

Ruby tilted her head and gave her a concerned look. "You were muttering to yourself. Are you okay?"

This time, a blush came in full force, and she glared at Winter as she hid her laugh behind a hand.

"I-I'm fine Ruby, ahem, it's nothing. Why don't we talk about something else?"

So they did, Winter was interested in much about their team, such as Blake and Yang, what friends they had outside their team, their studies, classes in general and how they were enjoying Beacon. Weiss thought it was fun, just having the chance to talk to her sister like this, to have Ruby there filling the gaps of silence that might have been there otherwise. It made the whole thing a comfortable experience, and by the time they were finished their meal, an hour later, but what felt a time that flew by all too fast, Weiss had a definite smile on her face, one she was happy to show off.

Winter eventually bid them goodbye for the night, saying she had to get back to her work, a few more documents to go through in regards to the festival. Ruby and Weiss wished her a nice night.

"So," Ruby grinned. "Do you think we'd have the time to track down the others and party with them?"

"Eh." Weiss shrugged. "I'm not overly bothered. Personally with all this food in me I'd like nothing more than a lie-down."

"Yeah, me too I guess." She laughed. "Back to Beacon then?"

"Lead the way team leader."

"Hah!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang leaned back against the bar counter and took a long sip of her drink. Strawberry sunrise. Not as great as the ones in juniors place but a drink was a drink. She didn't really like beer. She had at first, but now it… interfered with her senses. Made her feel groggy, bloated.

She'd been noticing that a lot recently, things changing for her. Physically obviously. Her vision was sharper, her hearing clearer and her sense of smell was crazy.

It was why she hadn't visited the Club recently too. Too many flashing lights, thumping music and bodies.

This place on the other hand was a little less of all that. It was still a club, but Coco had picked out her favourite place. It was as good as Junior's place, but less well known, more obscure, which meant fewer people.

Perfect for a group of Huntsmen that wanted to have fun.

Yang could see Coco now, dancing in a pile of bodies like she owned the place, she was a good dancer too; not in any classy way, but she was cool and confident enough that she could have done the chicken and it woulda' looked cool.

It might of also help that she was hot. Yang had a girlfriend obviously, so she wasn't having any naughty thoughts, but she could still appreciate the other girl for it. Coco looked _good_. So did Velvet, Yatsuhashi and Fox in this mature, steely kind of way. Was that just a thing that happened? Did second years automatically just become better looking because they'd been in Beacon longer?

The blonde didn't really have any way of testing that, seeing as there weren't any other second-year teams to compare them to. Come to think of it, there weren't any third or fourth-year teams either. What happened to them?

The answer was obvious, not that she liked it.

The Grimm _had_ been getting stronger recently, and if Yang's own mission was any indication of what the older years got on with it didn't come as a surprise.

She took another sip. No, no bad thoughts like that. This was a time to enjoy herself. the others were doing it;

Cardin was dancing with Velvet (Aw cute~) Nora had dragged Ren into a dance-off (Damn Ren was a good dancer) Sun, Neptune and Sage were all busting out some moves to varying success while Scarlet chatted up some girl by the wall and Jaune was busy showing Russel, Sky and Dove how it was done.

 _And she could smell them_. Was that weird? it felt like it should be weird but she wasn't sure.

And speaking of things she wasn't sure of, Blake let out a long sigh as she leaned against the counter beside her, drink in hand and hood up even indoors.

Was there something different with her face? Yang wasn't quite sure at this angle, but the black lines looked like they'd… grown?

She might have asked, were it not for the dark scowl on her girlfriend's face. Yeah, bringing that up would have probably been a bad idea, so instead she went with the easier method.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" came the sharp reply. Yang winced. So her partner was in a bad mood, noted. Blake obviously noted her reaction too, letting out a sigh, this time frustrated.

"Sorry," she said. "That was… nevermind, I don't know."

The blonde frowned. More than that then… there was something upsetting her that was for sure, though she didn't know what it could be for the life of her. She still had to ask though.

"Is there something upsetting you? Did I do something?"

"What?" Blake whirled, eyes wide as she stared at her. "No, no that's not it Yang."

"Then tell me what it is?" she pressed. "I can't help if you won't tell me what's going on."

"There's nothing _going on_!" the Faunus hissed, and upon realizing she had, looked away, shoulders slumped. That was a point for Yang. "I just… I don't know what it is today, somethings been… upsetting me. I feel a lot… just a lot. Like… I don't know, angrier? It's stupid."

Anger… that was one way of putting it. She'd seen the playbacks of Blake's fight with Neon. It had been _brutal_. The other girl had to be carried out of the ring when it was over…but…"Hey?" Yang grinned. "Don't be like that, anger issues are my thing, you take that from me I'll lose some of my charm."

Blake's mouth twitched upward. Barely noticeable, but it was there, so she kept pushing.

"I mean, not _all_ of my charm obviously, I got plenty of that, spades of it. Like my amazing puns for example."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm serious!"

"I don't know whether you are or not, but if you really believe it that might be scarier."

"Boo!"

And then, suddenly, the smile was gone, like it hadn't been there at all, replaced by a scowl.

No… that wasn't right. Something was messing with Blake… but what?

On a whim, Yang let her eyes flash red, and was met with a- what the hel was that?!

Blake's entire left side was... it was _supposed_ to be a white light, but now it looked like she was on fire! No, more than that the light was flickered sporadically! What was-

"What?" Yang blinked, taken out of her thoughts as the Faunus stared at her challengingly. She'd caught her looking, though had no idea why and had assumed the worst. "What ate you looking at?"

"Tell me what it was like for you before Beacon." Yang said suddenly, though not for no reason.

Her Grimoire was many things, but above all it was a teacher, and it taught her that Undead were volatile, dangerous to themselves if they lost control of their emotions.

Blake was half Undead, right?

She needed to distract her, from whatever was bothering her so much.

Which made it even more interesting, when Blake suddenly became guarded. "Okay… what do you want to know?"

"Anything," Yang shrugged. "Where were you born? What was it like growing up? Who were your friends?"

"Personal questions don't you think?"

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed. "Well… yeah, you're my girlfriend. I want to know more about you, and you're always quiet about what it was like before all this. I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

And just like that, Blake deflated.

"Sorry." She muttered and after a brief beat of silence she sighed.

"I… grew up in a village… somewhere off the coast of Mistral I guess you could say."

A raised eyebrow. "That's pretty vague."

"The place doesn't really matter," she dismissed. "I haven't been there in a long time, it's probably changed a lot since then."

Well Yang knew there was something more to that, but it sounded like a touchy subject, so she didn't press.

"It was hot," the Faunus went on. "Nearly all the time. Most people had some kind of dark tan, I didn't though, since I like reading more than talking with people. I stayed indoors a lot."

"Oh yeah?" Yang hummed, taking another sip of her drink. "You part of some book club then?"

Blake shrugged. "I… didn't really have any friends. Because of what my mom and dad… were, people treated them a lot different from other people."

The brawler winced. "Sorry, guess being a Faunus is hard in places like Mistral."

"…Yeah, sure, lets' go with that."

"So you had no friends?"

"none," Blake sighed. "Not until… not until I joined the White Fang, and even then, my first real friend was Ilia."

"The Chameleon Faunus? What was she like back then?"

A shrug. "Shy I guess. She was from Atlas, so things were harder for her, being near so many other Faunus proud to show themselves was new for her… and, well, she was on the front lines a lot sooner than me, she grew up faster." A little laugh that Blake failed to suppress slipped through. "I couldn't tell early on because she was so short, but she was a few years older than me. She was fifteen when I met her, and she acted – as I was told – that it was the first time she'd been a part of the White Fang. But that was… a lie. She'd been fighting since she was fourteen, alongside the leaders. Why she told that lie… I don't really know even today."

"Sounds… complicated, but I guess don't let it bother you is all I can say."

This time, the laugh was bitter. "Oh don't worry, I have plenty of things bothering me already, like this!" she growled, gesturing to herself. Yang knew what she was talking about no, after a proper look. It was definitely spreading, as to why, and what that meant… she didn't know.

"Blake," Yang sighed. "You can't let that bother you, it's not healthy-"

"Well what about you then?" the Faunus hissed, spinning to face her. "Correct me if I'm wrong Yang, but you lost an arm and a leg, you were torn up by Grimm and dragged down into a dark hole to die. A normal person would be damaged by _one_ of those things, but for months now you've acted like it's no big deal, like you're fine with losing a part of yourself! How?! How can you do that?!"

"How?" Yang mused, looking down at her obsidian hand, opening it, closing it, feeling how it rolled and tensed like real muscle. "I dunno. I guess… yeah, I lost a limb or two, but at the time I was just happy to be alive, and so much was going on that I didn't think about it… and then when it was over…" she'd gained things, it was crude and twisted, but if the laws of exchange were used, she'd lost an arm and a leg, and in return gotten her sister back, for real this time, she'd had the weight of her mental fight taken off her mind, told that she wasn't crazy, but special and in the end?

"I guess now… something's different. Before Glenn I had a go-with-the-flow kind of attitude, but now things have changed, I have a purpose, a goal."

"And, that is?"

Yang smiled confidently. "To find the truth, about this world, and the people in it. I want to learn everything I can."

Some complicated range of emotion passed over Blake's face. "Well," she said at last. "I hope you find it."

Immediately Yang felt the insincerity and blinked in surprise, but before she could call out, to ask what she'd meant, Blake turned and stalked away, into the crowd as Yang lost sight of her. What was that about? The blonde was about to go after her, when a head of red hair passed the corner of her vision.

She stopped, there, looking confused, thoughtful and alone, was Pyrrha.

Yang bit her lip. Blake had been upset… but Ruby had asked for her help on this… and it was important.

So, pushing away her worry for Blake, Yang made her way over to the champion, grinning as she did so.

"Hey Pyr, enjoying yourself?"

The girl practically jumped out of her skin at the greeting, she hadn't been paying attention to her surrounding at all, which was telling enough, Yang thought, considering she was supposed to be a Huntress-in-training.

Still, the redhead managed a smile. "Oh, I'm… fine. I'm just…. Thinking about things, the tournament and all."

Yang hummed, getting more comfortable beside her and leaning against the wall. "You know, this might sound a little rude, but you don't look like you're enjoying yourself here. You could be up there dancing with Jaune or something but you're here. Is something bothering you?"

"What? No," Pyrrha shot her another smile. What could possibly be bothering me?"

Alright then, looks like subtlety wasn't going to work, what did she expect, the girl had a thing for Jaune. So, Yang went with the next best thing; a battering ram of blunt honesty.

"I dunno, I was thinking something along the lines of being roped into something you didn't sign up for… something that changes how you look at the whole world, something about being asked to guard someone with crazy magic?"

And just like that, Pyrrha froze.

"You're…" she gasped quietly. "With them too?"

"Nope." The blonde answered quickly, firmly. "Apart from Ruby, nobody else knows that _I_ know… that's the way my sis wants to keep it for now, she has some… issues with how the headmaster does things. She's probably worrying even more now that he dragged you into it."

Pyrrha's head fell into her hands as she let out a breath. "This is really happening isn't it?" she moaned. "Magic and Maidens. I… I didn't know about all of this, I didn't even _want_ to know and then that woman attacked us and-"

"raven."

"H-huh?" The champion blinked.

"Raven. That's the name of the woman who attacked you."

"That's…" Pyrrha's brow creased in thoughts pulling on a memory. "That's your mother's name."

"Yep."

"Then, she's the one that attacked me? Why?"

Yang shrugged. "Again, I don't know. She used to work for Ozpin, but something happened and she left. It's complicated."

"Complicated," Pyrrha echoed bitterly. "It feels like everything's complicated nowadays."

"Yeah," the blonde laughed. "Don't I know the feeling?" a pause, and a sigh. "Listen Pyrrha… I know I'm not a part of your team, I know we aren't super close like them, but we're friends so… if you want to talk about this, anything like this, just come to me. You're not alone in this, Ruby's there too for you but I guess with what she's involved with is… you know."

"I guess." The girl mumbled.

"Uh, hey Pyrrha?" both girls turned to the new voice, and their faces clearly showed their surprise as Amber sent them a nervous wave.

The Mistrilian's eye widened. "Amber!? What are you doing here?"

The older girl grinned. "I uh, snuck out of Beacon. Listen I… I need to talk to you, if that's okay." She added, nodding to Yang. "I can come back later though if you want though. I don't want to intrude."

Yang shook her head and rested a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder.

"I'll leave you alone, but try to have some fun tonight, okay? And if you need me I'll be there."

"I- Thank you, really Yang. It's… it's good to hear."

The brawler nodded, and with her part said left the girl to her thoughts and whatever conversation those two would have. It was bound to be heavy. Now, where was Blake?

"Yang!" the girl in question called out, from across the floor. Despite the loud music, her voice was as clear as day. "Yang come quick!"

Yang frowned. Blake sounded worried. There she was, by the door leading out of the club waving frantically.

"I need your help hurry!"

Panic, there was panic in her voice like Yang hadn't heard before. It was all it took to have the brawler sprinting towards her, weaving through the crowds of bodies and out the door as Blake ran ahead, around a corner. "Blake!" she called out, "Wait up!"

"Yang hurry!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake gasped, practically falling against the alley wall. Her stomach rolled, writhing, like it was on about to explode, her skin was on fire, it was burning up!

Her legs wobbled and she fell to her knees. She was in such a blurred state the Faunus didn't notice how her left hand cleaved through the stone wall she was gripping, crumbling beneath her blackened fingers.

Her whole body felt clammy, outside hot and bones freezing cold.

Her lungs! She couldn't _breathe_!

" _Agh-urk!"_

Blake's hands flew to her head, pressing against it as it felt like something was crushing her brain. Her ears were ringing, thumping and her fingers were growing wet with something.

" _A-aah!"_

What was going on? Why was this happening!?

Someone called out her name, someone familiar. They… they were…

The black ichor that had until that moment been growing slowly, shot up her face, as if it were alive and branched out in back tendrils away from her face.

Before shooting back into Blake's eyes.

There was a squelching sound.

And Blake screamed.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Cinder took a breath.

In, out, in, out.

It was time. This was it, the moment she'd been waiting for, planning for meticulously, agonizingly over every detail.

Things had changed now, she was no longer in control, but that didn't matter. The result would be the same. She would acquire the power, she would achieve her goals and be victorious.

All her work, all her sacrifices and doubts would come to fruition now.

The others were already prepared, already out there about to carry out their parts. Everything was in place. They would be successful.

Cinder knew, there was no going back now.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Where was Blake leading her? She'd gone through three or four alleyways without stopping, the Faunus just in front of her each time as she turned a corner. She wasn't responding to the blondes calls for her though, which made sense if she was focused on getting somewhere yeah, but Yang didn't even know where she was going in the first place.

Something gnawed at the back of her mind, something quiet but insistent. No, she could think about it later, this was more important, she quickened her pace a little in an effort to catch up to her partner.

Blake just got faster, just out of reach.

The brawler growled in annoyance, what could be so bad that she-

Yang turned another corner, and stopped dead in her tracks. Not by choice, but because there was a wall, dead-end in front of her.

And Blake was nowhere to be seen.

"What?"

Yang's eyes widened as a sudden scream cut through the air. It had come from behind her, the way she'd come. That had been Blake's voice, it was unmistakable but, how? She'd only lost sight of her for a second, what was going on? Was she missing something.

The obvious answer was to find out, so Yang let her eyes turn red.

Just in time to see a boot flying towards her face.

Instincts reacted before her mind could and she threw herself to the side as it raced past and the crack of gunshot whizzed by.

A flash of silver passed by next, but before she could react she realized the movement had left her unbalanced, her foot slipped and she fell, rolling as her back hit the wall.

"Tch." Her attacker spat. "You messed up Em, she was supposed to _not_ see me coming. You can drop the illusion after she's dead, not before."

"I _didn't_ drop the illusion jackass." The second voice came, and Yang's eyes flickered back the way she'd came.

Emerald and Mercury, her classmates, the students from Haven.

"What the hel is this?" she growled. "What are you doing?"

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was obvious, don't tell me the stereotypes true is it?"

"Stop talking idiot." The other girl snapped. "Just hurry up and kill her."

"Yikes, someone's techy today. What's gotten you in a mood?"

The green haired girl scowled. "If you're seriously enjoying what's about to happen then you're sick in the head Mercury. Did your dad beat you hard enough that it fucked up your sense of right and wrong?"

Suddenly Mercury was frowning. "Low blow there Em, and no, I don't like it, but orders are orders right? What's with you anyway? You always listen to what you're told."

"Not when it comes to this! I think I have the right to hate it even if I'm going to go through with it."

"Mind telling me what it is?" Emerald leapt back as a fist sailed by her face, and stumbled when another came from the other direction. Yang growled as she pressed on the advance, elbowing the other girl's weapon away as she tried to bring it up.

A click was all she got as a warning as a boot flew towards her head from behind. She brought up her right arm fast enough to block it, but Mercury spun on his heel, hooting Yang's arm and twisting. The brawler gasped as she was flung past him and into the dead-end again, this time harder. The stone cracked a little and she winced.

"Sorry about that." The teen said. "We forgot you were here for a second. Little bit of technical difficulties going on you know? Don't worry, we'll make it quick."

Yang grit her teeth and glared at them. It was two on one, and she'd never really seen these two fight before they hadn't even participated in the tournament. She'd brushed it off then, but now?

But Yang wasn't clueless, and with what Ruby had said about a certain someone who'd been masquerading as a student… she could put two and two together.

"What does Cinder want?"

They stilled. Emeralds eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"

She grinned. "Yeah, I know all about Cindy, kind of a given really since her and my sis used to be friends." She smirked when they shared a look. "Looks like _you two didn't_ , that must suck for you guys, but hey, if you two are here, that means she is too." There was another click, and Yang primed Ember Celica for combat. "I'll ask this once, where is Cinder Fall?"

The response she received was a kick flying towards her face. She ducked to the right as Mercury's foot smashed into the wall behind her and _through_ it. Damn, she couldn't let a hit like that land on her head or she'd be done Aura or no Aura.

Yang jabbed with her left twice, the first landed, pushing the teen back, but the second was blocked with his shin. He didn't even flinch at the hit, using her arm as an anchor and twisting around it. His other leg crashed into her shoulder.

The brawler winced as she was sent stumbling, but before she could even begin to right herself she had to throw herself to the ground as a green blade sliced towards her face.

Shit, they weren't going to fight fair, why did she even expect them to? The thought was left unanswered as Yang rolled on the ground away from another low cut that might have taken out her eye if it had hit.

She grit her teeth and kicked out hard, catching Emerald in the chest and launching her back as Mercury brought down an axe kick towards the head. She brought up her arms and braced for the hit as it impacted against Ember Celica.

Pain rocked through her body in a flash of sparks, the bones rattled by the kick. She roared, pushing through it and reaching out with her obsidian hand. Her fingers clasped around his ankle and pulled.

Mercury cried out as he was dragged forward. Yang didn't let go as she scrambled up and lifted him _off the ground_ , swinging as hard as she could and slamming him against a wall.

His aura flared up and he kicked out with his other foot. It caught her shoulder and she felt her own rise up as a dust round was unloaded into it. It nearly dislocated her shoulder, but she refused to let go, pushing magic through her body and into her hand. Her palm heated up and erupted in a small fireball that engulfed Mercury's ankle.

The guy yelled in shock as clothes and flesh were burned awa-

Yang's head snapped back and Emerald's weapon shot out. She hadn't realised the other girl's weapons were connected by chains, but she hadn't seen it coming.

It pushed her back, and the second blade arced around her body and sliced at her back. Yang's fingers slipped and she lost her grip on her silver-haired attacker.

He kicked out, sending her flying back and to the ground again as he made it to a safe distance.

How? He should have been writhing in pain from the fire?

"The fuck?" Yang stared. Mercury's pant leg had been turned to ask, but instead of the burnt skin she'd expected was metal. A clunky looking robotic leg. He saw her look and smirked, pulling up the other on and revealing the same thing.

"What, surprised? I actually thought it was funny when you came back from your little mission with a leg missing _really_ felt some kinship there, to bad you're too much of a 'good person' to stay out of the way."

"What are you even talking about?!" she snarled. "Get in the way of what?"

Mercury shrugged, lifting up his scroll for her to see a clock counting down and before her eyes hit zero.

An alarm wailed, not from the scroll, but throughout the city.

"This."

" _Citywide breach in progress,"_ speakers throughout the city explained for all to hear. _"All civilians most report to the Plaza for further instruction. Please move in a calm and orderly fashion of your own safety."_

They were alerting people to an attack? Where was the sense in that?

Emerald snarled at the confusion that showed on her face. "You don't get it do you bimbo? Use your brain while it's not splattered on the pavement! How do you create as many casualties as possible quickly?"

The answer came to mind instantly, as sick as it was.

"You put as many targets in a space as possible… like fish in a fucking barrel."

"Or like stepping on a bug." The male muttered.

"Exactly." Emerald spat. "and when they're dead…" she growled, muttering profanities.

"But then," Yang tried. "Why are you doing it? I can tell you find that sick as well!"

Mercury frowned. "This isn't the part where you get us monologuing idiot, orders are orders, and ours are to get rid of you."

"What? You think I'm just gonna roll over and-"

She didn't get to finish that sentence as Emerald fired rapidly at Yang's centre mass. The brawler brought up her arms to shield her face but bullets still pinged off her Aura, worst was that it blocked out her vision and the next thing she felt was a metal kick to the side of the head that sent her world spinning.

"S-shit." She slurred, barely managing to stand as the world tilted on its axis. She was on the defensive again as Mercury unleashed a flurry of kicks, and for every one she managed to stop two more made her bones rattle.

Damnit. This was bad. She was faster than this guy, way, way stronger than him, but the fact was he was just better. She couldn't deal with his kicks as well as Emeralds range, who was still firing and forcing Yang to take the hits unless she wanted to leave herself open to Mercury's kicks.

The ally was too small for her to manoeuvre, her back was against the wall and she couldn't see straight.

Finally, Mercury's boot caught her in the stomach, winding her and sending her to the ground. The other metal foot pressed her head into the ground, and loaded a shot at her temple.

Shit shit _shit!_

"Hey!"

Yang couldn't see it, but she heard Emerald gasp as gunshots and flashing lights went off in every direction. Mercury looked back for just a split second, but she took the chance. Her hair lit up in a blaze and she launched herself upwards, above him and slammed down with a hammering blow to his shoulder that sent him careening back.

Right into Sun's staff, which he used to catch the silver-haired assassin in the back and fling him over-head to land painfully on the ground. Emerald was to busy trying to create distance between herself and Neptune to help, and leapt out of his reach before she lost the advantage.

And just like that, it was three on two.

Sun twirled his staff in one hand. Yang swallowed. She'd only ever see the other blonde with a smile on his face, bright and practically nonplussed by everything around him.

Now, he looked angry.

"You know," he mused aloud as he and Neptune moved in from both sides. "I lived in Vacuo when I was growing up and I saw a _lot_ of things, but the thing I hated the most was when punks like you two try and take somebody out is an ally. Maybe I should return the favour?"

The two attackers shared a look.

They moved together, charging Neptune, who readied his glave, ready for them.

Which was why Yang's eyes widened when he swung;

And completely missed.

They ran passed him and out the ally before any of them could react, just like that.

"What the hel was that man?!" Sun cried, throwing his hands in the air.

Neptune looked confused, staring at here he's attacked the air. "But… I could of sworn I hit. How did I miss?"

"I know," the blonde sighed. Yang had figured it out with that last display, but it ad explained why she'd seen Blake when she wasn't even here to begin with, and how she'd only managed to dodge the first attack when she'd used her sight. "One of their semblance's; it's illusions. They must have used them to get past you."

The blue haired teen looked down at his hands. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. You two got here in time to save my ass. Thanks." She then added. "How did you even know I was here?"

"We didn't," Sun shrugged. "We saw you run out of the club by yourself and wondered where you were going. Then the sirens went off and heard the gunshots from here. What was this even about anyway?"

Suddenly her eyes widened. "The Plaza! We need to go, now!"

"W-wait a minute," he squawked as Yang barreled past him and he hurried to keep up. "What's happening at the plaza?"

"I don't know, but the two of them mentioned something was going to happen to the people in the plaza."

" _They_ told you? How do you know it's not a trap to lead us there?"

"So what if it is?" she shot back. "Civilians are still going to be there and so will the others so we need to warn them!"

The Faunus let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine, come on Nep let's pick up the pace."

"On it!"

The trio speed down the streets which were being filled with people hurrying towards the same place as them, looks of worry and fear written on their faces. Questions raced through yang's mind as she ran through. How did these guys even get access to the city-wide alarm system in the first place? What were they planning to do with the people there? Why now?

She didn't get her answer, but what she did get was the sight of Jaune waving them over as they burst into the scene. People looked their way for a moment but ignored them a second later in favour of getting into a comfortable space instead.

Yang ran over to Jaune and the rest of team JNPR, as well as CFVY, CRDL. They… looked okay. Nora looked like the sirens were affecting her a little but other than that everybody looked more annoyed and confused than in any danger. It leat her slow down a little

"Hey guys," Jaune greeted them. "Where were y- wait a second Yang is that blood?"

The brawler blinked, hand raising to the side of her head and coming away wet. She was bleeding from the side of her forehead. One of Mercury's kicks must have opened it up earlier.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter guys this is a trap."

"Say what?" Coco frowned, overhearing her warning.

"I was attacked," she explained as the other students crowded around her. "By Mercury and Emerald. Whoever they're working for set off the alarms. There's going to be an attack."

"Are you sure?" Amber pressed. "With all of us here that would be a bad idea for anybody."

Ren frowned. "Unless they had a way of taking us all out here and now."

"how?"

The Mistrilian made to speak again when Yang frowned.

"Wait a minute," she said. "Where's Blake?"

There was a pause as everybody looked around to find she wasn't with them and Ren made to speak again when a sudden bang silenced everything.

It was almost surreal, and everyone, Huntsmen, law enforcement and Civilian alike looked around for the source of the noise, low mutters escaping the-

Another one went off, louder this time and sent a shockwave that had the glass rattling. Yang swallowed. It had come from above.

"Oh my god." Velvet whispered.

The Amity Colosseum was on fire, and it was falling from the sky.

It was falling right towards them.

Mercury's voice echoed through her head. _"Or like stepping on a bug."_

People screamed. All around terrified cries could be hard as people ran for their lives.

"Go!" Cardin barked. "Go, go, go."

None of them needed to be told twice, and were already sprinting back the way they'd came.

Except now there was the obstacle of terrified people getting in their way, and risk of running them over in their own attempts to escape.

They weren't going to make it, Yang realised. The shadow of the Colosseum was looming over them now, growing larger and larger, blocking out the sky.

She felt Sun's tail wrap around her waist and wrenched her to the side inside a coffee shop, Neptune crashed down beside her, having been yanked to the side by Sun as well.

"Get some cover!" The Faunus yelled.

Yang looked up at them, to Sun, desperately trying looking for someplace safe to hide, and Neptune, trying to call others over, others that wouldn't make it in time.

This _building_ wouldn't make it. It was too weak.

But it didn't have to be.

"You know what, fuck the secrecy."

" _Ahierdan."_

And then everything came crashing down around them.

And Yang's world went dark.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **Here we go. The beginning of this I feel is the hardest to write, just having to create scenes for later to set up the characters. Anyway, it's all about to go off right now.**

 **I always wondered why they didn't do more to the arena. it's a massive metal building in the sky, they could have blown it up with the spectators in it or dropped it from the sky.**

 **Eh, it doesn't matter. you'll see how that works here. get ready for some fights, so meetings and a lot of casualties. Who'd going to die?!**

 **Well, I know, but you'll have to wait to find out.**

 **Until then, be sure to follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon (slash) WSpectre . com**


	37. Darkness falls: Part 2

**So I guess I left it on a bit of cliff hanger last time. a lot of thing are about to happen and well... I'll talk more about it at the bottom.**

 **Just something I wanted to bring up; I've updated my profile to display the stories I'm working on, but also the ones I have planned in the future, so if you want to know what I'm up to, please take a look.**

 **Now, onto the chapter.**

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...

* * *

When Yang came to, it was to the sound of screaming.

It was a dull, warped sound that fettered through as her ears rang. What… where was she? What happened?

Her vision blurred as she opened her eyes, met with a grey darkness. Something was… on top of her, something heavy. Ugh, solid concrete, great. Where had that even come from?

"Yang?! Yang where are you?"

"I'm here Sun." she called out, coughing as she inhaled dust and whatever else was in the air.

"Oh crap," the Faunus' voice cried out in shock. It was closer now, but still muffled by the solid wall on top of her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt under there at all?"

"I'm fine," she grunted. "just a little stuck," she hissed in annoyance. Her arm was stuck between a literal rock and a hard place. She couldn't move it as she was. "Can you help get this thing offa' me?"

"G-got it, hey Neptune gimme a hand will ya!"

A few moments later Yang could hear the pair of them grunt as the rubble shifted above her, a tiny bit at first but when Yang managed to get her arms free, she got them into a proper position and pushed hard.

The wall – now that she could see it better – was shoved to the side and Yang sat up, cracking her neck as she did so.

"Thank god." Neptune gasped, out of breath from the exertion. "I blacked out when everything came down, I thought it would be a lot worse in here."

"I know what you mean," Sun said, looking around. "Everything just went dark when the… when the Colosseum came down. How is this place even standing?" he glanced at Yang, the question clear in his eyes. "You said something… did something Yang. What was that?"

The blonde sighed, running a hand through her hair and grimacing when she realised the blood that had spilt from her head earlier had run into her hair in red patches.

Just great.

"I hardened the stone and concrete frames of the shop… the walls must have given out, but the frame stayed so we weren't squashed in this."

"And you did that how?"

"…Magic, I… I used magic."

"Magic." He repeated in a slow voice. Neptune stared at her. "Like, magic-magic. Witches and wizards and stuff?"

"Don't be- actually… yes, look it's complicated," she growled. "Ask questions later, we have more important things to think about right now."

"R-right, sorry."

She nodded and made her way to the entrance of the shop, or where the entrance used to be. The wall had been obliterated by something; the impact of the stadium, the shockwave or maybe just some rubble that slammed into it. Either way, it was gone now, and all that was left was a massive hole.

Yang stepped out in an effort to get a look at the situation.

What she saw wasn't good.

"Holy shit."

Yeah, Yang agreed with her fellow blond. Shit.

Vale was… decimated.

All her vision could take in was broken buildings and rubble, most of it razed to the ground, fires spreading from blown up cars and machinery and people dragging themselves out of the wreckages.

In this not-to-far-off distance Amity Colosseum had crash-landed. A massive hulk of metal that blocked out the sky from where she stood. It had hit the ground, crashed and slid across the ground.

A sickening feeling swirled in her gut. How many people had been crushed by that? How many had been killed by its shockwaves? Or their homes coming down on top of them?

Too many. The answer was too many for Yang's liking.

"So what do we do?" Sun asked, looking to her.

She blinked, looking away from the carnage. "Why are you asking me? Aren't you a team leader?"

"Yeah, but I don't know anything about what's going on right now, you do."

She scowled. He was right, even if that didn't fill her with much confidence. She wasn't the leader of her team, she wasn't even _a_ leader, but she'd have to do for now.

"We need to find Blake." She said. "She wasn't there at the plaza and if she's in this mess somewhere we need to find her before something else does."

Sun frowned. "What do you mean something else?"

Yang's gaze turned to the distance, to the outskirts of the city. "Think about it guys; you saw how scared those people were back there. Mortal terror is a strong emotion, and with this it's not going to get much better. How many Grimm do you think a city on fire is going to attract."

Neptune swallowed. "All of them I'm guessing."

"Exactly," she nodded. "Not to mention this was done by someone… if they attack now, things are going to get worse."

"I get it." Sun said, then adding. "I'll make a few calls to the others first, see if they're alright. Maybe Blake will pick up and we can find her without a problem."

Yang doubted that. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling things were about to get even worse. "Thanks Sun," she said anyway. "Get on that and get ready for a fight though. We're still going to have to deal with-"

A shrieking cry cut through her sentence, and the sky was filled with the black wings of Grimm. Nevermore.

"These guys."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"What… is this?" Weiss whispered to herself, overlooking what had happened to the city of Vale from the cliffside of Beacon.

Ruby swallowed. It was happening. A full-scale attack on Beacon, and it was already worse than she'd imagined.

All because they hadn't prepared properly. What had they been thinking?! Their team had just stopped a terrorist attack in Vale on their last mission, how could they have thought that was the end of it?

They hadn't. At least, Ruby hadn't, but none of the others had been given the information they needed. That they should have had.

Ozpin had decided it was better off kept between them and because of that this had- no, no that wasn't right. This attack was much more than one person could handle.

The question was what would come next.

But that could wait. Right now there were more important things going on.

"M-My god," The heiress stuttered, looking dizzy at the sights before her. "This is… how did this…"

"Weiss," Ruby snapped. "Calm down and focus, we have a job to do now, defending the city from Grimm is our priority."

"R-right." She nodded. "Of course, I was just… I was just…"

"I know," she said in a softer voice. "But we can't stop to think about it now. Come on, we need to get our weapons, and I sure as hel can't fight I these heels."

Her partner nodded, they ran back towards the school and as they did they reached for their scrolls.

Ruby's scroll clicked as they made it to the lockerrooms, and the sound of gunshots erupted from its speakers. "Yang! Yang can you hear me!? Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine Ru," her sister yelled over the noise. Ruby heard a grunt, and the roar of a beowolf cut short before Yang's voice was heard again. "I'm with Sun and Neptune, Blake's missing, I'm going looking for her."

"What? What happened to her?!"

"No idea, she wasn't with the rest of us when the arena came down. Things are a mess down here sis, I, shit, there are a lot of dead bodies… I… I saw Emerald and Mercury too, they attacked me."

Ruby's grip tighter on the scroll, nearly fracturing it. "What happened?"

"Sun and Neptune helped me fight them off… they're in on this, which means that Cinder girl is too. Ruby, what are you going to do?"

The reaper swallowed. "I don't know. Right now we need to defend the city though, everything else comes second. Where's everybody else? Team JNPR, CRDL, CFVY?"

"No clue," her sister spat. "We got separated during the blast. I haven't contacted them yet but listen, Amber's somewhere here too."

Ruby froze. " _What?!"_

"She said she snuck out of Beacon to join us. She was with Pyrrha last time I saw her. If she's even still alive then she'd probably a target. After I find Blake I'll-"

"No," Ruby cut off. "Don't go after her. If she's in the city they'll send their most dangerous after her, someone who can't beat."

"…You know who they are don't you?"

"I do… He hunted us before we made it to Beacon. Listen, just find Blake and regroup with as many people as you can, I can see it from up here at Beacon that the Atlesian Battleships are already on the move."

"Yeah, well I can see them from here too, trust me sis, it doesn't look good. The sky's filled with nevermore and griffon," as if to make her point Ruby heard a griffion's shriek through the scroll, and then a hail of bullets too fast to be Yang's weapons. Gunships. "It's a full out air battle, at best they might be able to deploy their knights and paladins before they become too occupied to help us. Listen I- Shit!"

Ruby's eyes widened as gunshots rang out again, this time accompanied by the sound of Yang running and Sun shouting something out. "Yang? What's happening?"

"It's the fuckin' White Fang!" she snarled. "They're in on this too. Son of a bitch, they've blocked the street. Listen Ruby, do whatever you gotta do and be careful, I need to deal with this okay?"

She nodded, and when she realised Yang couldn't see her she added. "Right, be careful Yang. Please."

The scroll clicked again, Yang having hung up. The young leader looked over to Weiss, who didn't look at all relaxed with the situation.

"I managed to get through to Coco. Her team is with CRDL. They're okay but in the middle of fighting Grimm. Team JNPR's nowhere to be found and they're pinned down at a cross-section."

"We need to get to them then," Ruby said. "If we hurry we can meet up with them and-"

"I'm afraid that will have to wait Miss Rose."

They turned to the new voice, to Ozpin standing in the doorway, both hands resting on his cane.

"W-what do you mean wait? My friends, my _sister_ is out there!"

"And you are just one person. There are dozens of fully trained Huntsman and Huntresses doing their best to thin the numbers as they come into Vale even now…You cannot help them as you are, neither can I, but there is something we can do, something we can use."

Ruby gasped. "You're not serious are you? Do you…"

Ozpin face said it all, in that it said nothing: Blank, cold, logical. He was going to use the relic. How, she didn't know, but that he would there was no doubt.

"Weiss," The reaper said, and the Heiress' head snapped up at the sound of her voice. Hard, like steel. "Go and find the others; help the teams at the cross-section."

Weiss blinked in confusion. "What about you? What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet," she answered honestly. "Hopefully something that will help, but until then you need to get down there and make sure everybody's alive until it happens."

"But-"

" _Weiss!"_ Ruby snapped, turning to her partner. And what froze the Schnee wasn't her voice, or her anger. It was her eyes: desperate, pleading.

"Please."

Damnit. Damn all of this. Weiss didn't know how this had happened, to go from such a peaceful night to all of this but damn it all!

"Fine." She spat, anger at the situation bleeding into her words. "I'll go, but you better not keep me waiting alright? Come and find me."

She turned and ran out the door, past the headmaster and away from Ruby. She didn't hear her partners words, and if she had, there was no telling whether or not she would have kept going, but either way, they would have filled her with fear — something that could not be allowed at a time like this.

"No promises."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Pyrrha coughed as she climbed to her feet, Jaune helping her up as she did so. Looking around, Ren and Nora were alright, helping a dizzy but uninjured Amber to her feet.

Thank goodness for her.

If Amber hadn't shielded them with her powers… she didn't think they'd be alive to… to see this carnage.

"Is everybody okay?" Jaune called to them, worry written on his face.

"We're fine." Ren assured him. "A little shaken but thankful to be alive, somehow."

"That was pretty amazing." Nora managed to smile. She was taking in the sights around them, the destruction and bodies, and seeing it as if greeting an old acquaintance. Pyrrha wasn't sure how Nora could act like that, but her cheer, however dimmed it was, was appreciated. "Amber making all that lightning shoot from the sky and knocking all those boulders out of the air was crazy."

"Yeah," Jaune agreed, looking over at the girl. "Yeah it was… more than just crazy. What was-"

"Listen," Pyrrha tried, stepping forward. "The important thing is that we're all okay. We can ask questions later but right now I think we should get back to Beacon. Right?"

The blond shot her a complicated look. It looked like he'd twigged instantly. He knew she was aware of what Amber did, and was keeping it from him. Ren and Nora noticed it to if their faces were anything to go by.

"No," Jaune said at last, shaking his head and looking around at the ruined city block they resided in. "If we try to get to Beacon like this we might get picked off by whatever or whoever did this. We need to meet up with the others first, try and regroup and move as a unit from there-"

Jaune's eyes widened, and Pyrrha blinked as a whirring sound came from behind her.

The next thing she knew, Jaune had dashed past her with his shield raised, taking the brunt of a barrage that would have riddled her with holes. It sent him stumbling back, but gave the champion enough time to spin around and raise her own shield.

"What is this!?" she gasped, as the hail of dust rounds pelted into Akoúo.

"Oh, you survived that did you? How irritating."

Out of the dust a shadow of a man came forward, and behind her Amber gasped.

"Watts." she seethed, reaching for her staff.

"Me," he smirked, and Pyrrha could practically feel the arrogance ooze off him. She was more worried however, by the dozens and dozens of machines surrounding them on all sides. White and red robots, with an 'M' plastered on their chests. He noticed her gaze. "Oh these? The products of Doctor Merlot. The man wasn't very important himself, but his creations _were_ impressive. Now, how about we introduce ourselves formally?"

He bowed theatrically, and she had the sense that he was mocking them. Her skin prickled.

"I am Doctor Arthur Watts, former head of the Atlesian science division, at your service." He smirked. "Now, be good little children and die without a fuss will you?"

That was all the warning they got before the android opened up a rain of deadly hail.

Pyrrha was lifted off her feet by the force as some pinged off her shield or simply passed around it, and crashed onto her back. Behind her, Nora cried out at her own lacking defence, and Jaune, still standing, rushed to block the projectiles that sailed towards her and Ren.

A wall of stone rose from the ground, surrounding them and giving them cover.

Team JNPR and Amber were surrounded.

"Who is this guy!" Nora yelled over the gunfire that pelted against their barrier.

"Watts," Amber hissed. "He hunted me before I made it to Beacon. If he's here then it means he had something to do with the stadium coming down."

Ren readied Storm Flower and listened to the sound of the bullets. He frowned, and Pyrrha realised a moment later; it sounded like they were chipping away at the rock.

Just how much firepower did they have?

"How does he present a threat?" Ren asked the older girl.

"I… I don't know. Not really. Most of the time he sends other people to do his dirty work, but he's smart and he knows how to manipulate people into doing what he wants, even his opponents. All I know is that he uses lightning."

"Oh yeah?" Nora grinned. "Then I think I can take him."

"Alright." Jaune nodded. "Nora, you're in charge of dealing with him. Pyrrha, you and Amber protect her as she moves while me and Ren deal with the bots. Clear?"

They nodded.

"Alright then, drop the wall!"

A moment later, it came down, and the girls charged forward. Nora yelled out a battle cry as she raised her hammer, and sprinted. Pyrrha and Amber ran beside her, the champion with her shield on her right, and Amber blasting away bullets with miniature firestorms.

Pyrrha clenched her teeth as the gunfire hit her shield and rattled her bones. It took much of her focus and discipline not to stumbled and falter under the barrage.

Around them, the sound of metal being shorn was welcome, as Jaune and Ren sliced through their enemies like paper. Jaune had improved, massively to the point that these foes held no challenge for him, and Ren dealt with each enemy with calm precision.

The issue was their numbers.

She hadn't seen it at first, but there were hundreds of them, coming up from behind the ruined buildings. This Watts had known Amber would be with them and brought the firepower he needed to deal with the maiden. Wait… if he knew about them then-

"Nora wait!"

The girl didn't hear her as she roared, upon the man with her hammer rushing down.

Watts smirked and stepped back, the weapon shaving past as lightning crackled at his fingertips.

Nora grinned and ran in, heedless of the energy at his hands and didn't even bother to dodge or block as the electricity arced towards her. Why would she? Her semblance would deal with it, make her stronger.

Which was why her eyes widened when her body locked up and she dropped to the ground gasping.

"What's the matter, shocked?" the doctor sneered. "Oh I know about _you_ Nora Valkyrie, a rather interesting semblance you have. Unfortunately for you, you don't seem to understand what's really going on with it do you. Let me _explain_."

Nora cried out as her body spasmed and writhed, voice tinged with agony.

"No!" Pyrrha roared, and dashed forward, only to be launched back as androids with glowing blue spears stabbed at her from all sides. Her Aura flicked and she grunted in pain, but cried out as one caught her under her arm and flipped her away.

"You see," Watts said. "Your semblance lets you take in electricity and makes it flow harmlessly through your muscles, therefore amplifying your strength with that said electricity. But you see, _I_ do not simply launch lightning at you, no, I _wield_ it, mould it and bend it to my will, so when that same energy is roaming within your body, _I have control over you_ and all the pain sensors in your nervous system."

As if to demonstrate his point, he snapped his fingers together and Nora _screamed_.

Ren heard and gasped at what he saw. "Nora!"

That moment of distraction cost him as a robot slammed into his side, sending him rolling to the floor, and forced to writhe in a desperate attempt not to be impaled on one of their spears as they stabbed at him.

Jaune grit his teeth and ran to help Ren, cleaving through any machine that got in his way, but it meant he wasn't distracting the ranged ones, which unloaded into his back.

Things were going wrong, they went wrong so fast!

"Now then," Watts smiled, for he looked like he was truly enjoying this. "Let's make things a little more interesting shall we?"

And before her eyes, Pyrrha watched as Nora stood up again, Watts' lighting crackling on her skin. The usually smiling girl's face was twisted in agony, as she turned to face Pyrrha. What was-

"Now then, how about you kill your teammates for me?"

That was all the warning she got before a hammer flew towards her head.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss landed in her glyph and let it propel her over the skyline. Or what was left of the skyline. God, there was barely anything left!

It was all ruin as far as she could see. Only the outskirt of the city stood, and even then it was currently being assaulted by the greatest horde of Grimm Weiss had ever seen. A sea of black from this distance, and every so often it flashed telling her that the professional Huntsmen were still holding on.

Another glyph propelled her further forward as she bypassed streets altogether. She didn't go too high, at risk of being targeted by airborne Grimm. Above her, Nevermore's and Griffon's were locked in battle with the Atlesian airforce. They lit up the sky with bullets and explosion, as hundreds of ships shot by, tearing down each Grimm that was only replaced by ten more. The only thing stemming the onslaught from above was the battleships, which Weiss was sure the general was leading himself. Hopefully, they would be able to help soon, because as Weiss saw the cross-section fast approaching she knew they'd need it.

The cross section was the name given to a road that went in three directions, sort of like a 'Y' shape, that allowed civilians to evacuate to and _through_ the cliffs of Beacon, and right now the only things keeping back the tide of Grimm were team CFVY and CRDL.

Each team held a road, Coco and Velvet with their miniguns mowing down as many as they could from afar while Fox and Yatsuhashi dealt with any that got close.

On the other side Cardin held his ground with his team, ripping apart the landscape as the creatures of Grimm assaulted them.

The only help they had were a few Atlesian soldiers at their side, laying down whatever supporting additional fire they could.

And just like that Weiss was there laying down her own support in the form of a barrage of icicles. They impaled the Grimm to the road before they evaporated moments later, but it pushed them back long enough for her to land beside Coco.

"Weiss, thank fuck you're here, we need someone to plug up our defence, can you do that?"

She nodded, already thrusting Myrtenaster forwards and focusing as walls of ice sprouted from the road and formed obstacles to slow down the Grimm. "What's going on? How bad is it?" she yelled over the racket of Coco's rapid fire.

"Eh, pretty fuckin' bad." The second-year shouted back. "We've got hordes of Grimm coming from both entrances, civilians still evacuating behind us and I'm runnin' out of god damn bullets." As if on cue her gin clicked empty. "Damn, Yats, give me some cover while I reload!"

"On it!" the big man nodded, cleaving through a dozen beowolves who thought they could take him down with greater numbers all at once.

"Oi Cardin," Coco yelled while switching out ammo casing rounds. "How's it with you over there?"

"Like crap." He yelled back as his mace turned a Boaratusks skull into mist. "All I see is Grimm, Grimm and more Grimm. Do we have any backup coming our way?"

"No clue, looks like the rest of Atlas is dealing with the birds up there. Weiss, where are your teammates?"

"Separated," she answered over the din as she shot a fireball at a creep. It burst upon contact and splashed onto the fur of a Beowolf and it's pack. "Yang's gone to look for Blake and Ruby's gone with Ozpin."

"Ozpin?" Cardin barked. "What's he planning?"

Weiss wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but before she could ask there was a bang, and a building further up came down. The heiress paled as an Ursa Major barrelled through, saw them and roared.

"Shit!" Coco spat. "Damn it, Velvet, Weiss, focus fire on the big guy!"

The Ursa's footsteps rattled Weiss' bones and it blistered towards them, ignoring the hundreds of bullets that pelted into its hide.

Yatsuhashi and Fox rushed it, slicing at its legs as it reared back. Their blades bit into flesh, but stopped at the bone when the Ursa grunted and twisted to the side, lifting them off their feet and slamming them into the wall. Fox rolled and dived in again, under a swipe that would have surely taken his head of and stabbed at its stomach, the beast roared as it was disembowelled, and collapsed to the ground amidst death throes.

There was no time to celebrate, and Velvet yelled out a warning as creep slammed into him, knocking him onto his back and forced to hold the Grimm at bay as it snapped and snarled at his face.

Weiss cursed and readied her rapier to help him when she was stopped in her tracks by a familiar blade shooting past her face and impaling the creep.

Her eyes widened further as green lasers rained down from the sky, pushing back the sea of Grimm long enough for both males to retreat back to safety. And then Penny dropped from above, landing on her knees as the ground cracked beneath her.

Oh, and there were metal wings shooting out from her back.

She stood and saluted the soldiers next to them. "P.E.N.N.Y assault unit reporting for duty sir!"

Assault unit? What on Remnant?

"Penny," one of the soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're here. What's the situation above?"

"Progress is slow but General Ironwoods forces are gaining the advantage bit by bit. I was instructed to aid on the ground with anything I could."

"Then we could use your help," Coco said, stepping forward. "I don't know exactly _what_ you are, but if you can kill Grimm I'm happy. Can you do that?"

"Roger!" she smiled brightly, heedless of the situation around them. "I'm combat ready!"

And before Weiss' eyes the rest of her swords shot out from her back, and fired into the mass of Grimm as they approached again, this time, slower

"Guys, I've got an idea!" Velvet called out. "Cardin, do you think you have enough firepower on your team to take down a building?"

"I don't know, maybe? Depends on what you want us to do with the thing."

"We need to push the Grimm together," the rabbit Faunus explained as she sprayed down more that got too close. "If we can block these roads with enough rubble we might be able to funnel them down a single path. Then all of us can focus on one choke point!"

"Sounds like a good idea." Russel yelled as she stabbed at a Beowolf. "So how we gonna do it then?"

Weiss had the answer to that, tossing each of them a shard of red dust. "Detonate it in the right places," she ordered. "And do it fast!"

Team CRDL nodded, rushing into the fray as team CFVY, Penny and Weiss along with the Atlas soldiers gave them as much cover as they could. What they were aiming for was the Vale central Bank, a big building right in the centre of the two roads that could block both if destroyed.

Each boy made it to one of the corners and planted the dust, then, backed away as Cardin readied his mace and with a mighty slam sent a torrent of fire right at the-

The explosion knocked Weiss, and most of the others off their feet. Yantsuhashi caught her, Velvet and Coco before they could fall down, but the shock still shook her. The bank gave way and became a landslide of mortar and fire, blocking the roads as planned and creating only one way in for the Grimm to funnel.

"Damn Cardin," Coco laughed. "a little bit of overkill don't you think?"

Cardin wasn't smiling. "That wasn't me."

"Guys," Fax said. "the Grimm should have come by now."

Weiss blinked. He as right, they should have. Only, the way was practically empty, no if the Heiress squinted she could make out the black creatures beyond the dust.

They weren't moving.

They were…

Waiting… then, out of the dust two shadows appeared, one, tall and broad, the other was hunched, and with some kind of tail twitching in the background.

And then the maniacal laugh sounded through the street.

The laughing one stepping into view, an insane smile on his face as he bowed to them theatrically. "Why hello _children_. What a pleasure it is to meet all the fine students aspiring to be Huntsman and Huntresses, and seeing you defend your city like this, ah it brings a tear to my eye."

Cardin's eyes narrowed. "Who are you people?"

The man, who Weiss could see now was a scorpion Faunus laughed again. "Why my boy, my name is Tyrian, Tyrian Callows, and I am but a humble servant of the one true Queen."

Weiss frowned. Queen? What was he-

"Now then," he said, clapping his hands and cutting off her train of thought. "I have been instructed to give you a single opportunity for mercy; should you throw down your arms, we will spare you. The Grimm will not harm you while you flee the city and from there you can run back to your homes. It is a generous offer from our lady, I suggest you take it."

The bigger brute fo a man stepped forward, and spoke in a deep, gravelly voice. "None of you need to die. Take the offer we've given you, it is your only way out of this."

The students shared a look. Did this man honestly think they'd abandon their school? They gave him an answer, in the form of readying their weapons.

The Faunus giggled, quietly at first, then, louder and louder before erupting into insane glee.

"Oh good! I was hoping for some fun. Now, _die!"_

Weiss' eyes widened as the Faunus blurred and vanished for existence and before her eyes he appeared in front of one of the Atlesian soldiers and struck out with dual daggers on his wrists.

The poor man choked on his own blood as he died, the red liquid spraying from his throat.

He was on them a split second later as Fox, Russel, Sky and Dove rushed to intercept him as he cut down a second solider in just as much time.

He ducked under Sky's halberd and slid in between Russel's daggers kicking out as Dove and knocking him back before bringing up his wrist blades to redirect Fox's own.

Tyrian rammed his knee into the second year's stomach, doubling him over and lunching him into the air. He might have fired at him, if Russel and Sky didn't get in his way, trying to cut at his sides.

The Faunus' tail wrapped around Sky's weapon without even looking and caught Russel's daggers in both hands before lashing out with both feet right into the green haired boy's chest, sending him skidding to the ground painfully.

He didn't stop laughing, even as he bent over backwards to avoid Weiss as she stabbed at the place his head had occupied not a moment before. She growled, and dashed to the side with a glyph and stabbed at him again. He blocked it and counted with his own blade. Her glyphs pulled her out of range and right as he missed she lunged back in.

This time she stabbed high, and Tyrian made a noise of interest as a white blade swept low at his feet.

Weiss' summon cut swiped at him as he ducked low, but instead of being hit by it, he hopped off on foot, twirled in the air and _between_ the two blades. As his feet touched the ground again he reached out and twisted his wrist blades, locking both swords with his own weapons and grinning.

Weiss recoiled as his face came mere hairsbreadths from her own and tried to pull away.

Myrtenaster wouldn't budge.

"Oh~" he giggled. "I like you, you're _interesting._ There's something about you, something about how you smell. I know you. Yes I do, you're a Schnee aren't you?"

She grit her teeth, trying to ignore him as she yanked at her rapier. He was too strong, far too strong.

"Oh don't worry little one, I hold no ill will for your family. Such plights are meaningless in the face of our goddess. Although, _they_ might care _much_ more than I."

A roar rang out all around them, not Grimm, but People. The Heiress of the SDC felt her mouth run dry as she realised they'd been surrounded.

By the White Fang.

"They seemed to recognise you too," Tyrian said. "They hold back for now, but I wonder what will happen when their patience runs out and their bloodlust for the Schnee line takes over?"

They'd try to kill her, that's what. Weiss knew they'd go right for her, and if these two people weren't beaten by then she stood no chance.

The Faunus saw the look on her face and smiled. "Oh you shouldn't focus on them, I just wanted to let you know, I'll kill you long before they get chance to."

Weiss cried out as she was suddenly kicked back and if it wasn't for her glyphs she would have fallen.

As it was, she had nearly no time to block her opponents plunging attack that caught her off balance and threw her to the ground.

It didn't make Tyrian pause for a second, and before she could even touch the ground he swung a boot into her chest and launched her into the air. She landed, badly and rolled to a stop, coughing a spluttering. It felt like she'd been hit by a car head-on and she could barely breathe. How much of her aura had that taken off?

A shadow appeared above her but Weiss gasped when she realised it as an overeager White Fang member rushing to finish her on the ground.

"Weiss!" Penny shouted as her fist smashed into the grunts face, sending him flying back. The heiress winced, she'd hear the sound of bones splintering and she was sure it wasn't from Penny.

The ginger-haired girl helped her up and steadied her blades in front of her, towards the scorpion Faunus as he grinned at them.

From over the mans shoulder, Weiss could see the other man locked in combat with the others, and she meant _all_ of the others; Coco, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Velvet, Cardin, Russel, Sky and Dove surrounded him on all sided, attacking relentlessly, and yet, he swatted them away like they were nothing, and worst, he didn't even flinch at the blows that landed.

Just who were these people? How were they so strong?

There was a screech as the Faunus dived in again, swatting away Penny's flying swords and getting up close to her.

He aimed right at her stomach and his wrist blades clicked.

The next thing Weiss saw was the other girl being shot back as bullets slammed into her Aura.

She moved, right for Tyrian, it must have surprised him a little, the sudden offensive, because instead of chasing Penny down he turned to defend himself as Weiss lunged at his throat, her summon glaring behind her.

She stabbed low, her summon cut high.

Thrust at centre mass, swing from the left.

Head, arm, chest, legs over and ever again, as fast as she could, every kind of attack, every technique she could know with the sword she used. She was two people, working, thinking, acting as one.

And it still _wasn't good enough._

Tyrians tail lashed out at her head, and though she just managed to dodge it, the same couldn't be said for her summon. It burst, popped like a bubble. The tail arced back, wrapping around her arm and yanking her forward. The next thing she knew, the Faunus grabbed her and flipped her over his shoulder. She slammed into the gr-

" _Hrk!"_

Tyrians knee came up before she could land, rocketing into her back, into her spine in a blow that sent pain wretching through her body.

She was hit so hard in fact, that she was thrown in the direction of the other man.

The Faunus laughed. "Oh Hazel~ I'm sending this one your way!"

That was all the warning she got before he spun on his heel and launched her into the air via dropkick.

Penny rushed back to meet him the next second.

Weiss coughed up bile and spit as she pushed herself to her hands and knees. A hand was on her shoulder, helping her up the next moment. "Are you alright Weiss?" Coco asked.

"I-I'm fine." She lied, and she knew it was a bad one. She felt like she could barely stand, and a rib or two were definitely broken.

The older girl knew that too, judging by how her lips thinned into a grim line. "Shit, don't pass out on me, we need as much help as we can get, this guy's too much."

On cue, Velvet was clipped by Hazel's fist and sent cartwheeling back. She cried out as she came to a painful stop, but pushed herself to her feet as soon as her momentum lessened enough. She wielded a longsword now rather than a minigun, for all the good it did her, even with eight huntsmen-in-training against him, he barely looked fazed.

Was a ninth really going to make a difference? The heiress didn't think so. But…

This was her school, these were her friends. And like hel she was just going to roll over and die!

Her summon reformed behind her, and she nodded wearily at Coco.

The girl nodded back. "Alright then, lets-" she stopped.

Because _Hazel_ had stopped.

There was a pause, a long, tense pause as he took them all in again, eyes scanning over each of them.

Weiss swallowed, and she saw the other's raise their weapons, each of them battered, bruised and exhausted, but unwilling to fall.

Coco spat to the side.

And pulled the trigger.

Once again the violence erupted as they rushed him, Yatsuhashi and Cardin both using their massive weapons to attack head-on, while the rest flanked him from the sides.

He regarded them calmy even as their weapons sped to meet him.

And then he moved before Weiss' eyes.

Whereas Tyrian vanished from sight, faster than a bullet, this man _tore_ up the landscape. He wasn't as fast, but he was still so much faster than them that the difference was insignificant.

He swatted Cardin away with contemptuous ease and caught Fax by his leg, using him as a weapon to slam into Russel and send them both crashing to the ground. Yatsuhashi's sword struck his arm, but got no further than that as his Aura stopped the giant slab of sharpened metal dead.

Hazel answered the attack by punching the male in the chest and knocking him away.

Weiss was in his face a moment later, while he was extended she stabbed at centre mass consecutively as her Summon managed to block his other arm from reaching out at her.

Mytnaster bit into his Aura, and like her senior student stopped as it did.

Except unlike Yatsuhashi the Schnee wasn't finished, and with a snarl, ignited the fire dust in the rapiers chamber.

It shot from the blade, and from the pinprick opening Wiess had crated, washed over and _through_ her enemy's defence.

He grunted, not in pain, but in the moment the fire blocked his vision. Weiss took the chance, lashing out with a foot that crunched against his nose, further stunning him as she jumped back to a safe distance right as the flames vanished.

The exchange had been less than five seconds, and yet she knew it was the most damage they'd managed to do to him. It was a start.

And then suddenly his eyes fell to Weiss, and she froze like a deer in headlights.

"You're a Schnee." He said, not asked. It was a statement, he was _telling_ her. "You have experience with dust, perhaps you are even skilled at it… from that attack, it seems like it… but…"

He reached into his pockets, and from them, pulled out two shards of Lightning Dust, on in each hand.

"You aren't ready for someone like me girl."

And he plunged them into his arms.

Weiss recoiled at the sight as blood spurted from the entrance of the gems and from the reality of what she'd just witnessed.

This man had just injected himself with Dust.

He was insane!

Electricity crackled over his body, his Aura and sparked from his eyes.

He roared, like an animal, like a monster.

And charged right at her.

Instincts took charge and her summon appeared before her, and for a split second it held before Hazel smashed through it like it was as fragile as glass. She dived to the side, propelling herself out of the way with glyphs just fast enough to avoid being trampled as he passed her.

He turned on a dime, and rushed at her again.

Too fast, he was too fast! Not only that, but he's somehow gotten even stronger, _heavier_. Each step he took shattered the ground beneath him, rattling her bones. He swiped at her so fast she couldn't get away and it skimmed her side. Even that was enough to knock her onto her back as lightning zapped her.

From the contact

They couldn't beat him, they couldn't-

A shadow passed her, and Wiess' eyes widened.

"No don't-"

Hazel reached out, catching Yatsuhashi in one hand,

His teammates yelled out, moving to save him and-

Hazel's big hand closed around his head as he struggled, raising his sword to try and-

 _Snap._

They froze, everything froze as Yatsuhashi body went limp, and Hazel dropped him to the ground.

He was dead.

Velvet screamed.

"We gave you a choice." Hazel sighed, and to Weiss disbelief, he sounded upset.

Rage and disgust swept through her. This murderer had the audacity, the disrespect to feel remorse for what he'd just done!?

A scream erupted from Coco as she leapt onto his back, weapon discarded in rage she surprised him for a brief second as she clawed at his face, intent of gouging out his eyes.

" _YOU BASTARD!"_

Miraculously she managed to draw a line of blood across his cheek, but he didn't even flinch, reaching up and grabbing at her collar before slamming her into the ground. Blood flew from her lips as her Aura vanished.

Weiss moved as fast as she was able, if she didn't help Coco would-

"And where are you going~?"

She didn't even have time to turn as agonising pain erupted through her body, blinding her senses as steel cleaved through her right shoulder and dug into bone.

She screamed as Tyrian laughed, driving her to the ground and twisted the blade deeper into her flesh.

"Get away from her!" Penny shouted, launching her swords at Tyrian's back.

The Faunus grinned.

"You fell for it~"

Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss could only watch as Tyrian tore his weapons out of her and flipped backwards, over Penny's swords and kicking down. They caught on something, string, and Penny stumbled forward, eyes wide.

"Wha-"

Right into Tyrian.

Who severed her head from her shoulders.

" _NOOOOO!"_ Weiss screeched, as she watched another one of her friend's bodies fall to the floor dead.

Coco appeared above her a second later, even as Velvet cried out for her to stop. But she was lost, enraged. She was her team's leader, and she's just lost one of her best friends, and these people had taken him.

It would have been enough for anyone.

It was certainly enough for Tyrian, as he snickered, and ducked under Coco's assault.

He sliced at her left leg, tearing a chunk out of it, and the next instant his tail snapped out, and stabbed right into her other leg. She went down hard, and screaming in torment all the way.

"That was fun!" Tyrian said, finishing in a type of humour sigh. "It was definitely a show, but now I think it's time to finish up here."

They were going to die. They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die They were going to die.

Weiss was going to watch as all her friends died!

And then _Tyrian_ cried out, and a ball of fire exploded on his back.

"Agh! Son of a-"

He didn't get to finish as a fist engulfed in flames crashed into his face, sending him flying back and crashing next to Hazel.

A boot came down next to Weiss, and her eyes shot up to a woman dressed in black with fire covering her arms and a look of steel on her face.

Cardin gasped. "Elder Mirark!"

The woman, Mirark, glared at the two attackers. "I think that's enough from you two. You overstepped your bounds by attacking this city, and killed the innocents here."

Weiss could only stare up as she spoke. Who was this woman?

"You slew those under my protection, and for that, you're going to die."

Her next words, were a signal.

"Knights, repel the invaders!"

And from where she'd just appeared, so did a legion of men and women dressed in the same attire as her, each armed with silver weaponry.

The White Fang cried out as many appeared behind _them_ , cutting some down before they could react.

Tyrian was no longer smiling. He bared his teeth.

"You, you vile witch! How dare you, how dare you!"

The woman's face hardened. "I know not of who you are, madman, but Vale was under _our_ protection and for what you've done I'll kill you myself." She glanced to the side. "Cardin, lead these children out of here, quickly."

"Y-yes ma'am."

"No! No no no!" Tyrian snarled, raising a hand. "Kill them, kill them now!"

There was a roar from behind him. The Grimm, which had until that moment been docile, swarmed through in a mass of black. The so-called knights roared in return and charged, as White Fang was caught in the middle.

Silver glinted in the light as blood both red and black spurted into the sky.

It was carnage, a landslide of confusion so bad Weiss couldn't tell friend from foe in the chaos. All the same, she cried out, when something, someone, hooked their arm under hers roughly.

Her vision blurred from the pain and what she was sure was blood loss. She managed to see Cardin leading the others away, including an unconscious Coco bleeding from her legs.

Her eyes closed, then opened, and suddenly she was in an alley.

She fell back against a wall, even as the sound of fighting could be heard. Farther way now.

She felt a hand lift her chin and a girls voice. "Get it together Schnee, you can't die on me now."

"W-wha?" she slurred, and through the haze, she saw a mask, a White Fang mask with horns sprouting from the top. "You're-"

"Can you even focus right now?" Ilia snarled. "Damn it… to hel with this."

The heiress watched addled as the chameleon Faunus ducked, turned around and hoisted her onto her back.

Weiss whimpered as the movement shifted her shoulder, and though bewildered was thankful she was losing consciousness if only so that the pain would not follow her.

"W-why… why are you h-helping me?"

"Don't think about it Schnee," Ilia spat as she hurried down the alleyway, away from the fighting. "I owed you for back at Mountain Glenn, that's all."

The Faunus looked ahead, growling under her breath. "I never agreed to this. They've gone too far."

That was the last thing Weiss heard, as darkness swan in her vision, and she fell into the black sea.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Pyrrha rolled as Nora's hammer struck her shield, sending her hurtling back. She barely managed to stay on her feet and had to duck under the second swing at her head.

Nora cried out too, tears in her eyes, though whether it was from the pain of Watts' lightning arcing through her body, or what it was she was being forced to do she wasn't sure.

Either way, it filled Pyrrha with a feeling she'd never felt before, not in her entire life.

Rage. White hot, murderous rage.

She couldn't even exact vengeance on the monster, who stood with a single hand out, fingers twitching as if Nora was a puppet on a string. He watched it all with a smile, a leer on his face and Pyrrha couldn't even touch him.

Nora was in the way, and though she was being controlled, though she was protesting with all her might, it did nothing to slow her down, nor make her weaker. In fact, with the energy reacting to her semblance the way it was, she was practically supercharged.

The champion gasped as she was forced to roll out of the way of an overhead swing and cried out when Nora used the momentum of the attack to pivot and strike her like a golf ball, launching her back.

She landed meters back, landing right atop a dozen androids that thread to stab at her as she did.

Her swords clicked, transforming into a spear and sheering them in two, but she'd taken damage all the same. Her Aura flickered, holding on by a thread. Pyrrha growled, looking back at the fight.

Just in time to see Jaune block Nora's swing with his shield and pay even for that by being thrown at and _through_ a wall.

Amber came from behind, eye blazing and summoned a stone block that landed on top of the younger girl. It didn't even hold her down for a second and she tore through it like paper.

Amber leapt back, and was forced into a melee with Nora as she followed. It was only her super enhanced strength that let her hold the girl back.

What could they do? They couldn't – _wouldn't –_ hurt Nora. She couldn't control herself, and she could feel all the pain inflicted on her, but worse, Watts obviously didn't care for her well-being, throwing her at her teammates destructively and brutally.

They needed something, _anything_ to even things. If they were to have any chance of winning they-

The ground shook, quaked under her feet and sent her stumbling onto her hands and knees. The others fell too, the machines, and even Watts had to take a step to steady himself. He looked around, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? Well, that's certainly something, looks like the big one is about to wake up. That will be a sight to-"

He cut himself off as Pyrrha appeared before him in his moment of self-distraction. The champion thrust with Milo, straight at his head. The doctor whipped his head to the side, Aura skimming the polearm and grabbing it with the hand not controlling Nora.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she was stopped dead in her tracks.

"Surprised?" he sneered. "believe me when I say I am far stronger than I-"

He was cut off again, not by choice this time, but by Ren's foot rocketing at his jaw snapping it up with a painful click and nearly guillotining his tongue.

He yelled out in surprise and a fair amount of pain, reeling back, but Pyrrha didn't let him. She let go of Milo and barrelled into him with her shoulder, knocking him back, unbalanced before spinning on her heel and bashing Akoúo against his face as hard as she physically could. Had his Aura not protected him, his head would have flown from his shoulders. Instead it pushed him back, and gave Ren the chance to flip over him and slice his back with Stormflower.

Jaune appeared in Ren's shadow a second later, and cleaved down with Crocea Mors. It bit into Watt's leg and smoked as it scrapped along his Aura.

Pyrrha pulled Milo back with her semblance and raised it to stab the man eye out.

Only for a wave of energy to shoot out from Watts, knocking them all back. His hand came up a moment later, and beams of electricity sprang from his fingertips, striking them all in the chest.

Pyrrha cried out, landing on her side. She opened her eyes and gasped as Nora appeared above her, face twisted in agony as she raised Magnhild.

And then Amber appeared behind her, wrapping both arms around her back and placing a hand over Nora's heart.

"Sorry about this."

Pyrrha was blinded by a bright flash of light.

The next, she saw Amber fly back, and Nora fall to the ground, groaning, but alive, and without Watt's strings attached.

Amber gasped, dragged herself up onto her hands and knees, and shooting Pyrrha a weary smile.

That morphed into pain when Watts kicked her in the face.

The Maiden howled as she fell backwards, clutching her bloodied nose. Pyrrha's eyes widened. Ambers Aura was gone.

"Impressive," Watts groused, standing over the girl. "You managed to match my readings and cancel out my lighting with your own. I'll admit, I didn't expect it from you. You are certainly clever."

Amber twisted on the ground, desperately reaching for her staff.

Watt's heel came down on her hand, crushing it, and she screamed in pain.

"But that is all you managed!" he snarled viciously. "You, a pathetic little girl unaware of the true power you hold. What are you now after Cinder took your power? You only have half of it don't you? But what's more, you are a wretched husk, half a soul housed in a weak little body."

He ground his heel deeper and Amber writhed.

"You are a pathetic wretch," he extended his arm, energy cracking dangerously between his fingers. "and you will _die_ a pathetic wretch."

"No!"

Watts stepped back as Pyrrha swiped at him, but was unprepared by the metal beam that sailed overhead right for him.

Pyrrha yelled out as she launched everything she could from the rubble of the fallen city around her, enough to crush anyone into a pulp. She readied herself to finish him if it didn't, or if he somehow managed to avoid it.

Instead, Watts raised a single hand.

And obliterated it.

The shockwave sent her back, her Aura shattered as she hit a wall and slumped.

"N-no," she gasped. "N-not yet!"

Watts sneered. "You are irritating aren't you? Fine, if you want to be the first to die, I'll oblige."

Pyrrha's eyes widened as he pointed at her, and a beam of energy shot towards her chest. She couldn't block it, _couldn't move!_

Her teammates called out her name

A shadow appeared before her.

And her face was soaked in Amber's blood.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake dragged herself away from the body of a White Fang grunt. He was missing half of his body, his legs had been ripped off.

How had that happened? She didn't know, couldn't remember where she'd been, what she'd been doing. Her vision, her mind, dipped in and out consciousness continuously.

Where… where was she now?

The Faunus looked around. All she could see where ruined buildings and corpses of White Fang.

What had happened to the city? Why was it so damaged?

She looked behind her.

Why were there so many dead White Fang? Had they been like that when she'd gotten here? Had they even been there a minute ago?

Why… why were her hands red?

Blake spasmed suddenly as pain shot through her body. She cried out, falling to the ground and clutching the left side of her face. Her eye, her eye! It hurt, it hurt so much! Everything did!

It felt like thousands of daggers were peeling away at her skin.

"So, this is what you've become."

The girls head snapped to the side in the direction of the voice, and through burred, blackened vision she saw a man, dressed in black, and hair the colour of blood.

" _A-a-adam."_ Blake groaned.

He stood above her, face covered by a white mask and a disgusted frown on his face.

"This is what you are now Blake? You left us, left me, sided with these humans and became a monster? An abomination?"

"A-a-ah… ar-r-r-rgh…" she couldn't speak, the pain was too much, robbing her of even breath.

"Tch," he spat. "it really is pathetic, to see you reduced to this… but, perhaps it is your punishment, for abandoning the cause, and me." The air hissed as he drew his blade, Wilt and Blush was already stained with blood as it sung free.

"Your punishment is not over however," he continued. "For what you've done, for your betrayal, I'll strike you down here."

Blake moved. Her body twisted and contorted to avoid the blade without her will. She hadn't thought, the pain hadn't allowed her, and yet she scrambled away from a blade that would kill her.

She didn't want to die. Not like this.

She clawed at the ground, dragging herself away as fast as she could. To Adam, it was pityingly slow. It disgusted him even more, that weakness. He spat to the side and raised the red blade before arcing it down.

It hit, bitting into Blake's blackened side. Blood as dark as the night sky above splashed across the pavement and Blake screamed from this new pain. It was cold, slicing through the fire that burned away inside her. It shattered her mind and will, ripping an agonising noise from her throat that was neither human nor Faunus but something else, something dark.

The red blade came up again, this time, to take her head.

" _RRAAAGH"_

A comet came between them.

Adam raised his sword in time to block the shotgun enhanced punch, but even so it sent him back a dozen paces. He glared through his mask at the newcomer.

Yang Xiao-Long met it with her own.

"So," she said. "You're the other one… huh… guess parallels don't share looks, that's for sure."

"Get out of my way human." Adam growled. "If you do, I may make your death quick. You have no part in this."

Yang smiled. It was not a friendly one. It was dark, and angry.

"Yeah, you see, thing is, I do. Blake is my partner, after she left you, me and her became a pair." She looked back at Blake, who now looked so different to what she was used to, small, hurt and scared. When Yang looked back, her eyes were the colour of blood.

And she smiled.

"You hurt Blake. And for that, it's my business. For that, I'm going to kill you."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby ran as soon as the elevator opened up, Ozpin beside her, no longer using his cane as a walking stick, but holding it as a weapon. They ran, to the end of the chamber. Ruby didn't know what was going on upstairs, but no one was here yet, no one to slow them down.

The headmaster tapped his cane on the ground, once, twice, a third and fourth time as a bright light swept across the floor.

Before them, the door to the vault appeared.

"Come on," Ruby hurried. "Open it up and let's go already!"

Ozpin paused, looking back the way they'd come before inspecting the door.

"Ozpin!" the reaper hissed. "What are you doing?! Open it up and let's-"

The door glowed, pulsated and shook as a golden light leaked from its edges. It burned, brighter and brighter until Ruby had to cover her eyes. There was a groan, like the sound of a giant door being opened and shut. From behind her arm she could just back out the corner of the Vault door, opening in front of her, and yet the sound lingered, longer and longer, louder and louder so much so that her ears popped. It reached a crescendo.

And then it stopped.

Completely.

Without even an echo.

Ozpin sighed. "Come now Miss Rose. The relic is before you. Take it and let us move."

No response. Ruby stared at the relic, and through it, as a shadow crossed her face.

"Miss Rose?"

"Why did you hesitate?" she asked. Her voice, unlike the sound of the vault, echoed through the chamber. She turned to the headmaster. "Why did you stop? What were you checking on?"

A pause. Then…

"The power of the Fall maiden has passed on to Miss Nikos… Amber is dead."

Ruby's mouth ran dry. "W… what?"

That… that couldn't be true. Amber was… she was Amber! Even with half the maiden's powers she was good enough to handle herself in a fight. How could she be-

Wait… _no…_ _no that couldn't…_

"We will have time to grief later Miss Rose," Ozpin told her, kindly even. "I am sorry but we must-"

"How did you know it was Pyrrha?"

"I'm… sorry?"

How did you know the power had passed on to Pyrrha? It could have gone to her attacker, maybe just someone random. Why did you say Pyrrha?"

"Because… because she is Amber's body-"

" _Why is she Amber's bodyguard?"_

Ozpin stilled. "Miss Rose-"

"You could have chosen anyone. A professional Huntsman or Huntress, one of General Ironwoods Specialists, even an older student from one of the schools, someone like Coco even… but instead you picked Pyrrha. Even if she's strong, she's only a first year. You… you picked her, _because_ she was a first year… didn't you."

Ruby stared at him, eyes wide and filled with horror, disgust… and realisation.

"You knew you'd have plenty of time to manipulate her, turn her into whatever you wanted; loyal to you and only you!" she took a step back. "You put her right next to Amber, because you _knew_ Amber was going to die! You planned for it! How could you!"

"Because Amber did not have the potential!" Ozpin retorted, slamming his cane down angrily. "No matter the training she progressed at a crawl. She was not a fighter, she was not a guardian and she was _not_ someone who should have been a maiden in the first place! Nikos is. She is the perfect vessel for that power."

"Since when did you get the right to decide-"

"I have always had the right!" he roared. "Since the day I bestowed my powered to humanity I have had the rightly to decree of those who are deserving of the power. It is my power, my authority my relics!"

"…I wonder about that."

Ozpin tensed.

"I wondered why you needed me here," she said, turning away from him, gazing at the relic as it glowed in that dark, empty room that was the vault. "I wondered why you always brought someone else down here with you. You could have just taken the relic yourself. I wouldn't even need to be here."

Those silver eyes turned, and pierced through the Wizards soul.

"I _wondered_ why you haven't use the relics before to defeat Salem. All this time you've seemingly had possession of them and yet you haven't used them. I haven't even seen you touch them. Just now, I realised something..."

" _You can't touch them."_

The Wizards grip tightened on his cane, but he did not move. Perhaps he couldn't. perhaps there was something he was not willing to risk.

Ruby felt something, something that clawed at her heart, at the knowledge, at the pain that Amber was gone. That she was dead. It was something that unlocked something inside her, for the third time in her life. Something wracked with grief and sorrow, it in her hand. Cold, powerful. What she needed for this task.

It was almost in a trance-like state that she spoke next.

"I won't let the relic fall into anyone's hands, not even yours."

Ozpin took a step forward. "What are you doing Miss Rose?!"

"…I'm going to destroy it."

And then the room was engulfed in silver.

Ozpin was blasted back, and he did not rise, unable to, as the power of Ruby's eyes pushed him down. That light poured from her sockets, filling the room, it did not stop. More and more it shot up, like great wings sprouting from her eyes, and Ruby wept, and those tears became threads of silver that intertwined with her arm, running down into her hand.

And from them, came a hammer.

It was small, angular, delicate and beautiful. Like an artefact of an ancient age, a blacksmiths hammer. For forging.

And breaking.

It would do.

Ruby stepped into the Vault, filling the void with her light, and, step by step, made her way closer to the relic.

Ozpin yelled out something she didn't hear, couldn't here. Ruby, in her state, couldn't even tell if she was the one moving.

The Relic did not move, did not recoil, even though she knew now, it was alive. It was magic, and with that, was conscious.

And yet in the face of its destruction did not move.

It was as if it was watching, waiting for her.

Ruby raised the silver hammer.

And brought it down.

It struck the orb, and a great quake shook the void itself.

A crack formed, a single, tiny crack along its surface.

Ruby raised the hammer.

And brought it down.

The void shook again, crying out in rage. This was not the Relics power; calm and waiting. It was Ozpin's. Angry. Dark.

The crack spread, branching out like spiderwebs. And yet it was beautiful, Ruby thought to herself.

Or were these even her thoughts?.

She raised the hammer.

And brought it down.

Raised the hammer.

And brought it down.

Raised the hammer.

And brought it down.

Raised the hammer.

And brought it down.

Again, and again, and again and with each strike the world around her rattled and light pure and bright erupted as if like the sparks of a forge.

And then, with one final strike, the Relic, _shattered_ , and energy burst free. It washed over Ruby, around her, without touching or harming her. It flooded out of the vault, which cried out in agony, expelling her from its depths. There was a flash, so blinding, so bright it eclipsed even the silver of Ruby's eyes.

The door collapsed into ruin.

And all was silent.

All that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the only two people in the chamber.

Ozpin looked around, eyes wide, standing, staggering to his feet, turning away from Ruby as she did the same, a deadly look in her eyes now that the light within her had receded. she picked up Cresent Rose.

"What… what have you done!?"

And then a curved blade burst through his chest.

* * *

...

 **So... yeah, we just went through a lot I think. THing is, we're not quite done yet, still plenty of people to kill- I mean get to.**

 **Ahem***

 **Anyway, this was the longest chapter I've written in... a well a while. which actually surprised me a little when I finished it. I didn't expect it to be this long, but I also didn't want to cut it in half, which I very well could, but I feel like that would have messed with the pacing, and the build up.**

 **In all honestly, if the next chapter is the same length, it might be the last of the Beacon arc,, rather than being five parts, it's three, though all the content is there all the same obviously, so I suppose it's just my preference to make this chapter bigger than usual.**

 **A lot of stuff happened, and I'd love to know what you liked the most, and who you're most expecting up next.**

 **At the end of the next chapter I'll probably have a lot more to write here, but I want to get onto the next one right away.**

 **All the same, let me know what you think, and if you liked it, please let me know by Following, Favouriting and especially reviewing. I take on all the feedback as I can, and talk with as many of you as I can (Even if sometimes the webside frustratingly doesn't let me)**

 **So, until then!**

 **Lastly, a reminder again, if you'd like to check out more on upcoming stories, such as their titles and summaries you should check out my profile page. Hopefully they'll interest you too.**


	38. Darkness falls: Part 3

_**Before we start I want to apologise for the delay in this chapter. Three weeks waiting is bad, even for me. Life had me busy though, this month I got back to college so things have been... hectic. I still didn't like leaving it this long, especially from where I left off last time. So, I'm sorry for the wait.**_

 ** _There are a few more things I want to mention that I'll save for down below. For now, I hope you enjoy._**

* * *

 _..._

 _..._

* * *

 _ Several minutes before the Relic's destruction._

There was so much blood.

There was so much blood.

 _There was so much blood!_

"No, no, no please!" Pyrrha cried, clutching a choking, dying Amber in her arms. "Listen to me Amber, you'll be okay, you'll be okay."

A lie, and a bad one at that.

Amber had a hole in her chest, the size of her head.

Even now she was fading as the last dregs of Aura she had left, that scrape that failed to protect her in the first place, desperately tried to heal her.

It wouldn't have mattered either way.

She could tell it was a fatal wound.

Someone screamed out her name but she didn't care.

Watts was but a few feet and laughing at her misery away but she didn't care.

All she cared about was the girl in front of her. The girl she had been supposed to protect.

The girl that looked up at her with scared, child-like eyes.

"I-I-" she stuttered, ruby liquid pouring from her mouth… and tears from her eyes. "I don't wanna- a don't wanna d-die." She sobbed, as her body, now missing her lunges convulsed and spasmed.

"P-Pyrrha I don't wanna…"

She never finished, as her last breath left her, and in a slow, agonising moment, the light faded from her eyes.

Pyrrha stared.

And stared.

And stared.

Waiting for it to be some kind of sick joke, for Amber to sit back up and wipe the blood dripping from her mouth and laugh it off. She did none of these things, and as Pyrrha held her body in her hands she realised something sickening;

The longer she held Amber's body, the less it became a person, and the more it became a thing.

Amber was dead, and the thing she held was simply a corpse.

She was dead.

Dead

Dead

Dead

Dead

Dead

Dead

Dead

De- wait… is that… me?

Pyrrha's eye lit aflame.

Watts leapt back as a crow flying by transformed into a man, bringing his heavy sword down like a meteorite that tore up the ground.

"Get back." Qrow Branwen ordered as he forced Watts to give ground, a snarl twisted his face as he swiped at the man.

Pyrrha heard none of it, as a voice, airy and confused echoed in her head.

" _Is that my body? Am a dead? Am I alive?"_

Agony tore into her skull as something – someone – saw through her eyes. Someone that was not her.

A hand grasped her shoulder roughly.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled over the roar of the two Huntsman clashing, as machines were cut down mercilessly in the crossfire. "We need to go, come on!"

"W-what?" she slurred. Everything was as if she was in a fog. Her own voice didn't sound like her own. Out the corner of her eye she could see Ren lifting Nora up to rest against him, hobbling away from the chaos.

Why did she care again?

Who… who were they?

Everything… everything felt off; she felt lower to the ground, shorter. Her body felt tighter and her face… clearer.

Where was her weapon? Where was her staff?

She froze.

She felt her stomach wretch. Her mind reared in protest as her gut fought against it. Her instincts flared, telling her that she was _wrong_. Pyrrha… didn't use a staff.

She used a sword.

She didn't use dust, or fire or ice or wind or lightning.

She didn't use magic.

She wasn't Amber.

Yes she was.

She was Amber. She knew she was. She had to be. Her mind screamed that she was. Her body roared that she wasn't.

Her soul twisted.

And then Jaune was before her, shaking her harder.

"Pyrrha get up!" he begged. "We need to go!"

Go where? Why? They were in Beacon weren't they? They were safe here. Away from her Mistress Salem and-

What was- what had she- who was Salem? What was this fear that froze her heart?

Darkness wrapped her mind in a shroud and before her, she saw an eye.

A golden, burning eye.

And then she saw no more.

* * *

…

…

* * *

All out slaughter.

It was like a fucking gang war.

Yang ducked under a hail of bullets that carved through the wall behind her as she ducked behind cover.

Sun slide against the wall beside her as he batted away a stray bullet. "This is insane!" he hissed. "What the heck is going on!?"

"We got caught in the middle of a net." Neptune yelled out, firing from behind another wall a few feet away.

Yang glowered as projectiles sailed overhead.

This was a damn mess:

They had been fighting through waves of Grimm just moments ago, zeroing in on Blake's location thanks to her scroll when they'd been ambushed by White Fang.

Worse though, they had backup, from robots with a sickening familiar 'M' marking their fronts.

Then Atlesian Knights dropped onto the scene behind them as Order members appeared from the few still-standing rooftops and _then_ she saw Juniors boys as well as countless other gunmen and criminals she didn't recognise appeared and fought _beside_ the Atlas soldiers and their machines.

Oh, and the Grimm were currently tearing through both sides indiscriminately.

How the hel were they supposed to get past this crap?

"We need to break through somehow." She scowled as a White Fang grunt got a little too brave and somehow made it to her and she rewarded him with a haymaker to the face.

"Yeah well I'm not jumping into the crossfire!" Sun said. "We need something more than just a distraction to get through this."

"How about cover then?" a girl's voice said, and Yang turned to see Miltia clad in black slide up beside her."

"Miltia? What the hel are you doing here?"

"What the fuck do you think? To take down these White Fang assholes. What are _you_ doing here? Shouldn't you be defending the school?"

"Blake's out here somewhere," she spat as she ducked down a little further to avoid another hail of bullets straying too close. "She's by herself. I need to find her now!"

"Gods damn it." The Malachite twin snapped. "How much trouble has your girlfriend caused you? Terrorist, relationship issues and now this? Just how good is that ass of hers?"

"Can we not talk about this now maybe?" Sun pleaded, batting away a grenade, for it to then land in a group of atlas robots and explode, obliterating them. "Damn it."

Yang growled to herself, this was taking too much time.

"Can you help or not?"

"Yeah alright, but your two tagalongs stay here, we need all the help we can get with these punks."

"What?"

"We're protecting civilians here." Miltia snapped. "Sorry to say but one person isn't enough for us to sacrifice innocents for. If you have to go then we need them to help."

"But-"

"We got this Yang," Neptune shouted. "The faster you find Blake the faster we can get to safety. Hurry!"

Her teeth clenched hard but she knew she didn't have the time to argue.

"Fine, let's go."

* * *

…

…

* * *

One step, two steps, three steps, footsteps.

One foot in front of the other, don't fall over, don't black out.

Ruby prepared these instructions, again and again in her mind.

It was almost impossible. Her whole body felt like it had been dipped in lead. Her legs weak, her arms frail and her chest tight. She could barely breathe scarcely hear and even as she dragged herself out of the CCT tower her vision flickered in and out of consciousness.

She dragged Crescent Rose behind her, metal screeching softly as it grated against the ground.

What had she… what had she done?

Everything was a haze, everything was a pain.

So when she saw a figure stand before her, blocking her way, she wasn't sure if she was really there.

"Where is Ozpin?" Cinder glowered, eye blazing. "Where is the Relic."

Ruby didn't answer at first. She pulled Crescent Rose before her, like a crutch to lean on. Her breath was laboured, cold. "Gone."

The half-maiden's eye pierced her before she grit her teeth. "He escaped with the Relic then? No, it doesn't matter. Even he cannot have gone far, and with such an item he will not be hard to track-"

" _The Relic is gone."_ The reaper repeated.

"Yes you said-"

"I destroyed it."

Cinder stopped.

And stilled.

And as the words were heard, understood, her eyes widened.

" _What?"_ she whispered.

"The Relic is gone, I shattered it to pieces along with the Door. There's nothing down there anymore."

"I-" Cinder choked. "I don't believe you."

Ruby felt something swell in her chest. Something icy, tight and angry. "I don't care. If you need proof, go talk to Ozpin. His corpse won't answer you, but it should be enough."

Golden eyes flickered to the side, to her scythe, and the blood-stained blade, digging into the ground.

The proof was right there in front of her.

But…

"The maiden." Cinder hissed, glaring at Ruby. "I felt the change, the power moved from that girl to another. You know who it is, don't you?"

"…"

Her eyes narrowed. "Tell me now."

"No."

Cinder's eye burst into flames, and in her hand a black curve sword appeared, pulsating with heat so oppressive Ruby could feel it from where she stood.

She looked Cinder in the eye. She knew she didn't stand a chance, not how she was… probably not even at her best. "What are you going to do huh? With that look…"

The black sword swept down in an arc, whistling in the air. "I will give you one chance Ruby, because of what we were. _Tell me_ who the knew maiden is so that I may claim what is rightfully mine."

"The maiden powers aren't anyone's, they-"

"Enough!" she snarled. "Tell me who she is!"

"…no."

Cinder rushed forward, her dark blade glistening behind her.

Ruby backpedalled, getting Crescent Rose up just in time to Block the strike.

It sent her flying.

She was lifted off her feet, and launched back. A blur flashed in front of her and she twisted in the air as the sword passed her, only for a heel to arc down from above and smash her into the ground.

She gasped, choking on what little air she could breathe and rolled to the side as Cinder stabbed at the ground hard enough to sink her sword into it.

Amber had been strong thanks to the Maiden powers, faster than Ruby with those powers and she'd been an amateur before, someone with no training or experience.

Cinder had all of those things before she gained the power of Fall.

And now they were even greater.

Ruby scrambled to her feet and pulled the trigger. Momentum aiding her she swung Crescent Rose low, hoping to catch Cinder's legs.

A second sword came down, stopping the strike dead.

Ruby's eyes widened as Cinder was on her a second later and folder over her knee when it was buried in her stomach.

She cried out, tried to, but a hand wrapped around her chin and lifted her into the air, feet dangling off the ground.

" _Tell me where she is!"_

Silver steel glared down at golden flames.

"N-no."

Her head was smashed into the concrete an instant later and before it could even register Cider lashed out with a heel that sent her rolling.

The body wailed in agony as she forced her feet under her as she skidded, stumbling as she pushed herself up and firing off with her rifle.

The bullets were knocked away by the black swords and Cinder slashed at her again.

Ruby spun, curved clicking as extended into a warscythe and she slashed at her opponent's neck.

Sparks ignited form the maiden's blade as she slid along her steel.

She passed the long weapon and brought her swords up to cut Ruby down.

The girl backpedalled, or pretended to as she gripped the trigger of her weapon and yanked back.

The curved scythe shook as it recoiled and rocketed towards Cinders back as she closed in.

The older girls face twitched for an instant as she recognised the danger, but instead of turning to face it one of her swords shattered into embers and she brought her free hand behind her back. It flashed brightly with flames and glass as she _caught_ the steel.

Ruby froze, not by choice as Crescent Rose was stopped in its tracks.

She stumbled as it was yanked from her grip.

A hand found her stomach and blasted her with a ball of flames at point-blank range,

Ruby cried out as her Aura shattered and a hand clasped at her head before throwing her to the ground.

She gasped, trying desperately to get up onto her hands and knees.

Cinder knocked her down before she could, pressing her face into the ground.

" _Tell me where she is."_

Ruby grit her teeth, pushing against a strength she couldn't match.

Cinder spat to the side.

And then stabbed Ruby's had through with her sword.

The silver eyed girl let out a strangled gasp as the black glass pinned her limb to the ground.

And then Cinder Twisted her grip.

And it burst into flames.

"TELL ME!"

Ruby screamed as her flesh burned. The flames scorched her arm from the inside out. Her skin blackened as her bones melted from within.

Ruby screamed.

And screamed and screamed and screamed as she felt agony like she'd never felt before.

" _TELL ME WHERE THE POWER IS!"_

All Cinder got in return was a scream. A scream that that pierced her eyes as it ran raw, as Ruby choked in the smoke and ashes of her own skin going up in flames. She didn't stop, neither of them did.

The more Ruby screamed, the harder Cinder twisted.

Until Cider couldn't twist anymore.

And Ruby could not scream anymore.

Cinder poured the flames in deeper, hotter, brighter unto the engulfed the younger girls entire forearm.

Not enough to reduce it to ash; enough to draw out the pain, and turn it into the cruellest torture she could manage.

Ruby could not scream anymore. All that left her was a gurgled, small, pathetic and weak.

Cinder grit her teeth, tearing her sword out.

No blood spurted from the wound. It had already evaporated.

And she watched as Ruby curled up into a ball, weeping weak, pathetic tears.

Something twisted in her gut.

The ground shook, making her stumbled a little and she turned towards the cliff, towards the city.

And the black dragon that had landed in it.

It was a Grimm, bigger than any Cinder had seen and as she watched it swung it's mighty head like a pendulum, obliterating buildings that looked like toys next to it like it was nothing.

Above, the sky had been retaken by Atlas, and its ships were pointed at the Dragon. They fired in unison, lighting op the sky in flames and dust.

The Grimm roared, so loud Cinder felt her ears pop and she watched as it's great bone white face snapped out, up and up and up to clamp around the nose of an Atlas Gunship, the second biggest of the three.

It ripped it out of the sky.

Cinder smirked. The Atlas military wouldn't be able to kill it, not with their petty weaponry.

She looked down at the girl beneath her, still shaking on the ground.

She couldn't defend herself.

" _Why?"_

It was barely a whisper, it was barely heard, so raspy and raw Cinder nearly missed it. But she didn't and she looked down at the girl again, the girl who had been her hero.

And she felt her heart tighten.

"Because I want power," she growled. "because you can't win as humanity hasn't won from the very beginning. Because I learned from you, that having power is the only way to survive. From the very start, since we first met that has been the truth. You were just so pathetic that you couldn't see what was in front of you." She grabbed a hand full of Ruby's hair and dragged her up, as she was, she couldn't even rise to face her. The fall Maiden leaned in close, mere hair breaths from the girl she once adored. "But most importantly, because I want to."

Lidded silver eyes gazed back at her, but even now she could see they'd lost their focus.

She dropped Ruby to the ground as a howl echoed from her right.

Close.

"The Grimm will finish you off, but if they don't, and you come after me, I will. Do not make the mistake that every other fool does. Don't try to be a hero. You'll die."

Ruby didn't answer, perhaps she couldn't anymore.

Cinder closed her eyes, as extinguished the flame in her eye. She made one last decision, reaching down to the silver cross that hung from her the reapers waist.

She palmed it in her hand.

"Next time we see each other… I'll give bury this with you."

She turned, back towards the dragon. And left Ruby's body behind.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang ducked under the blood-red blade as it swiped past her face and she was forced back. This was insane! This guy was fast, way too fast for her to handle the way she wanted to.

She was stuck dodging and blocking instead of being on the offensive.

The problem with that was the fact Blake was still writhing on the ground behind her.

If she moved, her partner would be left defenceless

This freak was after Blake.

Like hel she was going to let him past her, she'd tear him apart if he so much laid a hand on her partner.

But still, thoughts and actions were top very different things, and Yang was facing someone she couldn't deal with by just throwing a few punches.

She didn't have a grasp on how he fought exactly, but whenever he attacked he slid his sword into its sheath first.

She watched out for that, and so far it was the only thing keeping her alive.

But the worst part, the absolute worst part was that this guy wouldn't stop talking.

"Get out of my way human and I might grant you a quick end." He said as he knocked away a dust round she'd fired at his face.

"How about no?" she spat. "Dying isn't really on my bucket-list, especially not to a crazy sociopath who blows up a city."

"You can point fingers at us all you like human but it was your kind that caused this human."

" _What?"_

Yang gasped as Taurus' sword screeched against Ember Celica and shent her flying back. She landed on her shoulder and forced herself to keep rolling as he stabbed mercilessly at her downed form.. she shot at the ground and propelled herself upwards, kicking out as she did so.

Adam saw it coming and leapt back, out of her range.

Yang landed on her feet, but all the same winced. That had hurt, more than it should have. He didn't look as strong as her, he probably wasn't if she kicked it up a gear, but he still hit hard enough to take chunks out of her aura like it was nothing.

"Humans have always hated the Faunus," he went on as if he hadn't just attacked her. "Your people treated us like animals, enslaved us, took away our freedom and when we tried to free _ourselves_ you turned to killing us. This is justice for that, for the suffering you have caused this is the proper retribution."

Yang stared.

And stared.

And stared.

Something angry burned in her chest.

"Y-Yang," A voice whimpered from behind her. She turned just a fraction to look at Blake out of the corner of her eye. She was still shaking, still in pain, but on her face, more than that pain, was fear. And it was focused all on her.

"You- you have to run. Adam too dangerous. He'll kill you."

"I will," he agreed. "But running will not change the outcome."

"No Adam please! You can't-"

"Be quiet monster." He scowled. "A fate far more righteous is has been decided for you. You thought you could abandon our cause? That you could turn your back on us? On me?" he gripped the pommel of his blade. "And look at you now; worse than the humans, no longer even a Faunus but a monster. Once I'm finished with this human you're-"

"Do you ever stop talking?"

Silence.

Adam turned back to look at Yang, the surprise on his face quickly turning to anger.

"What did you say human?"

"I asked if you ever stop talking. Seriously, everything that comes out of your mouth make's you sound like an angsty teen. So you've had it hard, big deal, so have a lot of people, but they're not blowing people up to get their point across like a

The terrorist bared his teeth. "If you think I'll let you speak that way about our strife-"

"I don't _care_ ," the blonde snapped. "Why should I care about the feelings of people dead for a hundred years? I'm not going to use my ancestors as an excuse to start killing innocent people because I feel wronged. I don't care how you feel and I don't care what you think of me." She raised her fists again, ready for the real fight to start. "All I care about, is killing you."

Taurus roared in fury.

* * *

…

…

* * *

When the two figures came across the body, they weren't sure it was still breathing at first. Curled up in a ball, and the smell of charred flesh didn't leave them confident.

But after a moment they notice it shake, like a downed animal.

The shorter of them was already moving, kneeling down with her hands hovering uncertainly over the body as they both caught sight of the source of the smell.

Her arm.

Neo's eyes widened when her fingers accidentally brushed against the limb; and the poor girl whimpered in pain.

The cigar was crushed in Romans hand, and anyone could see his body shake, perhaps more violently than the girl that had been harmed.

"What the hel did she do to you kid?"

He received no answer, and after a moment, he cursed, hurrying over to see if he could help.

Neo wrapped her arms around the younger girls shoulders and lifted her up gently. Roman helped on the other side, and together they got her to her feet.

"Roman!" Ruby rasped, and the thief was shaken at how _raw_ her voice sounded. "What are you doing here?"

"Really? That's the question you have for me not what's going on in Vale or how screwed up the situation is?" Neo shot him a glare. He bit his tongue, she was right, now wasn't the time for sass. "Ugh, I'm getting you out of here."

"N-no!" The reaper coughed. "Cinder… I- I have to find Cinder."

"Are you serious? Look what she did to you kid? Your arm's been barbequed!"

"I still have to find her. I have to bring her back."

He stared at her. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you… are you listening to yourself? No way, it's not happening. If you go after her she'll kill you."

"I don't care."

"This is no time to be the hero ki-"

"This has got nothing to do with that!" She snapped, trying, desperate to stand on her own. Neo's face morphed uncharacteristically into worry. "I just lost a frie- I… I lost- I have to go after her. I have to stop her from doing something she'll regret."

"'You don't know her as well as you think you do Red." He shook his head. "She hasn't regret all the things she's done already, what makes you think you can change her mind? If you go after her you're dead."

"I'm going, and you can't stop me, neither of you can. I'm not going to give up on her."

She meant it. Roman knew at that moment that the kid really, really meant it. She'd try to go after the crazy bitch. Even if they tried to stop her, she'd kick and scream all the way. They'd never get out of Vale like that.

They sure as hel weren't leaving without her. They'd already made that decision.

"Shit… alright, what's the plan then?"

Ruby managed a weak grin.

"A bad one."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang stumbled as a foot cracked across her face, and rolled to the side as a red sword came down where she'd been just standing.

This wasn't getting any better, in fact it was getting worse.

The Faunus had gotten faster in his rage, stronger and more deadly.

She hadn't known until it was fired point-blank at her stomach, but his sheath also doubled as a shotgun, and when she tried to retaliate with her own, he'd absorbed the damage and fired it right back at her in a red arc that cleaved through the buildings behind her.

A hysterical part of her mind found it funny that there were so many similarities. Was this the Avatar thing acting up again, or was she just that unlucky to find some with parallels between them?

It wasn't doing her any favours though. Her own Semblance was on the backburner. She could absorb the damage sure, but unlike him she actually needed to be hit for that, and she was losing too much Arua way too fast for that to be something she could sue properly.

And she _still_ couldn't manoeuvre properly. Blake was practically spasming on the ground behind her. What was wrong with her? What was happening to her?

Yang didn't know, and she didn't have the time to find out. All she could tell was that the Faunus had stopped talking and started snarling to herself.

Again her thoughts were cut off by Taurus' sword as its tip sliced at her shoulder and he spun on his heel to cleave her in two from her right side.

She brought up her leg, and winced as the red steel rattled against obsidian. She'd missed the timing on her Aura and the word had chipped at the limb.

Adam seemed surprised at the state of her leg though, and grunted as she stomped down, taking his sword with her and jabbing with her left.

It struck his arm and sent him back a few steps.

He didn't attack again. Instead, inspecting her.

His anger was gone. No, it was still there, but it was cold, deadly anger. Like that of a killer that sent chills up her spine.

Dammit, she couldn't even see his eyes properly but it felt like they were burning holes in her skull.

She swallowed and glared back. She wouldn't get shaken by him. She couldn't afford it. If she screwed up she was dead, Blake was dead."

Her chest burned at the thought of it.

Her eyes flashed red, and her breathing grew ragged. The thought, the very _idea_ of him so much as _touching_ Blake revolted her.

She'd tear him limb from limb before she let that happen.

Whatever she must have looked like in that moment, the Faunus saw it. A look of disgust crossed his featured, before he gripped Wilt and Blush tight.

Yang stiffened as she saw his hair glowed bright red. The smell of blood reached her nose as her she growled. He was going all out with his semblance then?

Her own hair burst into a mane of fire. She knew she wouldn't have time to avoid it, and even if she did he'd just follow her. She had to cancel out his attack. Blow for blow with everything she had, and power through. Heat flooded into her through her body as her semblance took all the hits she'd taken and turned it into power.

She wasn't going to wait for him to make his move. She roared and lunged at him, rearing back her fist and poured magic into her fist. It burst into flames and the Faunus grunted in a moment of surprise at the sight.

Wilt was torn from its sheath an instant later and her fist smashed into a red arc of raw power.

Her aura shattered.

And as did her arm a moment later.

Yang cried out as the force sent her crashing to the ground. Her eyes closed for second as she grit her teeth against the pain that sent shocks through her body, and when she opened them it was to see obsidian shards fall next to her.

She stared at them numbly.

A boot connected with her face and snapped her head back as blood spurted from her lips..

A pained groan escaped her as she fell onto her back.

A shadow appeared over her, and her eyes widened as the red blade stabbed down as her head. Her instincts forced her body into action before she could think and her remaining hand clamped around the swords edge.

She screamed through gritted teeth as the sword sliced her fingers and blood dripped onto her face.

With barely any strength left and one hand, she couldn't stop the sword from slowly inching closer to her face. Inch by inch.

Her arm shook in agony as she pushed with all her might.

The edge got closer, closer, until it bit into the skin below her eye.

And pushed deeper.

" _Shit!"_

" _Shit!"_

" _Shit!"_

" _ **RRAAGGHHH!"**_

Adam's eyes widened as a blur of red and black crashed into him and sent him rocketing back.

If he hadn't brought up his sword she would have surely been cleaved in two, and that fact gave him enough pause for Yang to gather her senses.

She looked up at the woman standing with her back to her. Dressed in red and black, and a white helm that the blonde was scarily familiar with now.

"M-Mom!?"

Adam glared at Raven as she bared her sword before her. "Another human comes to the slaughter? Are you to get in my way too?"

Yang couldn't see Rave's face, not beneath her mask, but she heard a _very_ audible breath, rattle dangerously. "Go."

 _What_?

"Go," she repeated. "Take your partner and get to safety. The city's already lost. Vernal, make sure they get out of here."

"Yes ma'am." Yang heard suddenly, and coughed as a hand hooked under her shoulder and dragged her to her feet. Woman with messy short hair and bright blue eyes nodded to her. "There's white Fang on the way here, get the other girl and come one."

"But," she tried. "I can't carry her with my arm gone."

Vernal looked down. "You mean that one?"

Yang blinked and look down before gasping at the sight of every single individual shattered shard floating up and reforming into a black limb.

" _Why did you use obsidian for the arm and leg? Isn't it like, really weak?"_

" _I wouldn't worry about it breaking on you."_

Is this what Merlot had meant? Had he designed it to fix itself like this?

A shaking of her shoulder pushed those questions to one side. The sounds of shouting could be heard no, getting closer. "Come on. Now!"

"R-right." Yang moved to the shaking form of Blake, and when there was no outwards response to her presence, picked the Faunus up in a bridal carry and ran to follow Raven's henchmen, who was already busy firing at the White Fang with strange deer-horn knives.

The blonde turned back, one last time to see Raven locking swords with Adam as he tried to follow, roaring angrily, knocking him back and charging forward to keep him busy, and, possibly end him.

She ran, following the bandit through the street as she mowed down Faunus that got in her way. She was good, really good, moving with skill and grace a criminal shouldn't rightly have had.

"Tch, these idiots really like lining up to die don't they?" she said, firing two rounds off into the chest of a grunt that got close enough to grab her. He went down in a smoking heap and the bandit stepped over him like it was nothing.

Yang swallowed. She'd thought she was strong, stronger than most people... just how many people were this far above her?

It didn't matter, it didn't matter. All Yang cared about now was getting Blake out of here. Shso she kept running as Vernal cut down anybody that got close.

They ran and ran and ran until the broke past the last of the White Fang and =then they kept running.

"The Huntsmen set up a safe zone not far from here," Vernal told her as she fired behind them. "If we keep going down this street we should be fine. You can get a ride out of the city from there."

"Yang." Blake whispered in a tone the brawler hadn't heard before; something that sent her hairs on end. Yang looked down, worried about how quiet her partner suddenly was.

And she choked on her breath as she got a proper look.

The left side of Blake's face was coved in blood, her own blood, leaking from her eye, and, more than that, more horrifying than that was that it no longer looked… Human.

A golden orb engulfed in a sea of black stared back.

Yang's body screamed at her to move before she even realised what was happening. She threw herself back, dropping black as a black, clawed hand shot out towards her neck.

She fell and rolled to the ground as Vernal shouted out a warning before Yang heard her grunt and something knock her away.

The next thing she knew Blake was on top of her, snapping and snarling like a rabbit animal.

"Blake what are you-" she gasped as her partner swiped at her. Both blackened and human nails raked across her chest and drew blood.

Yang cried out and tried to push Blake off her but couldn't. Her partner was overpowering her tired and bruised form easily.

"Snap out of it!" Yang yelled. "What's wrong with you!?"

A growl escaped Blake and AYng couldn't even react fast enough to cry out as the Faunus' head snapped past her.

And sunk her teeth into Yang's neck.

She screamed.

"Blake- Blake stop!"

The Faunus snarled madly, spit and blood dripping from her mouth as her teeth sank deeper.

Deeper, deeper as Yang screamed and flailed.

She was crying. She didn't know when it had started but she was crying as Blake's teeth- no- her _fangs_ – clamped down and into bone.

" _Please stop please stop it Blake stop it stop it stop it!"_

There was a wretching pull as the mad Faunus bit down hard and prepared to rip out her throa-

"Get offa her!"

There was a yelp as Vernal's boot slammed into Blake's side, freeing yang from her bite and in turn knocking her. Blake landed on all fours and snarled, low and animalistic.

The bandit glared back, ready for a charge.

And Blake froze.

And blinked.

And blinked.

And then her face went pale.

"Blake?"

And she ran.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Cinder gazed out over the carnage with a look of disgust.

The streets were just so full of bodies. Men and women, young and old soldiers and civilians. All dead. Some, were crushed by rubble, others seemingly untouched, but many were someway maimed or mutilated.

It was such as waste, Cinder thought, for all this to have happened to these people, all to fail, and they _had failed._

She couldn't tell what Emerald and Mercury were thinking. Her disciples had been quiet since they met up again. They'd been tasked with delaying reinforcements, and judging by the blood, they had.

Cinder couldn't feel the other half of the maiden's powers. They were within someone else, someone she didn't know perhaps. And in turn, the relic was barred from them and if… if Ruby was to be believed, destroyed somehow.

It was a painful realisation to find that she did believe her.

It was a sickening realisation to think about what she'd done to her in an attempt to make her talk.

Cinder wondered as she had before if she was a monster, a truly vile one at that.

And in speaking of monsters, Cinder say her associates up ahead in a clearing. Rubble and broken building around them letting her know it hadn't been one a few hours ago… and the smell.

She was surprised though, their wear and tear was far beyond what she'd expected.

Tyrian and hazel were bloodied, bruised and burned, and from the looks of it, from Tyrian, hadn't killed the one who'd done it. Watts too looked more battle damaged than she'd thought we would, torn clothes and cuts littering his body.

His state filled her with inordinate amounts of glee.

"What happened to you?" she asked as she approached.

"Things were complicated." Hazel grunted. "The order here in Vale was bigger than we thought.. it was stronger than we were told."

"That bitch lost me my prey." Tyrian muttered, mostly to himself. "Cinder forced back a sneer. "He'd been tormenting people then? If someone had stopped him then good riddance."

There was something more pressing than his madness however.

"What happened." She asked, turning to Watts, who scowled at the action.

"The Maidens power was transferred to the Nikos girl. Qrow Branwen arrived before I could eliminate her."

"You failed?"

"I _did not_ fail." He snarled. "I will hunt that girl down if I have to. We would have had this problem if you had taken the power in the beginning but no, you have to let her get away and the responsibility was left with me! Perhaps you can be useful in somethings and _at least_ tell us you killed Ozpin."

"… He's dead."

"Good, at least you can do something right.

She scoffed, the fool had the arrogance to insult her? After all this?

"We failed." She spat. " _You failed_ and don't try to deny it. All this destruction, all of this pointless because you couldn't secure the maiden."

Watts sneered, stepping up to her, mere inches away and seemingly careless of the fact even with half the maiden s powers she was still a threat to him this way.

"Is there something on your mind _Cinder?_ Something _upsetting_ you? You've been awfully irate about this from the beginning. Is there _someone_ compromising you?"

She stilled.

"Don't you dare." She hissed. "Don't you dare bring her into this. She doesn't matter, I-"

"You what?" he spat out. "As far as I can tell you're hesitating beecasue of someone else. I'll remind you that you serve our Master. Do you think Salem will tolerate this weakness on your behalf?"

"What do you know about Salem?" she howled.

Emerald and Mercury stiffened suddenly.

"Ma'am." Emerald gasped.

She might have ignored her in favour of burning Watts to a crisp if at the same time, Tyrian hadn't started cackling.

"What is it Emerald?"

The girl didn't speak, instead, pointing down the road.

Cinder felt her stomach drop.

Ruby was here.

She was looking there way. Cinder couldn't see her eyes from here but the look on her face wasn't a good one.

It was determined.

It would get her killed if she didn't turn and run.

Tyrian's cackling was getting louder, louder.

What was she doing?

She could barely stand, her burnt arm was hanging limply by her side and she was dragging her scythe behind her with the other.

She was pale, weak and exhausted.

Why was she approaching them?

"This girl." Hazel acknowledged in a flat voice. "She looks familiar."

"Rose." Watts' hummed, turning away from Cinder to smirk condescendingly down at Ruby as she got closer.

And closer.

"Children aren't as bright as people claim they are, are they?" he mused aloud. "one would think walking towards your enemies was a mistake.".

Cinder started. There was something…. There was something wrong.

Ruby's eyes were dull as she ignored the others, and stared directly at Cinder

What did she think was going to happen? What was she trying to achieve with this?

She was still getting closer, barely out of arms reach now.

Tyrian had devolved into full-blown laughter now. "Perhaps the Rose was come to die? Subeg for surrender maybe? Oh! Oh! Could she be basking to serve our Queen?"

"I wouldn't go that far." Watts chuckled, walking up to the young girl, and again, looking down at her. "Though as you are it is amusing, so I'll give you the chance to speak. What is it you want before we end you then?"

Ruby looked up, and Cinder's eye's widened.

Because Ruby's weren't silver.

They were brown and pink.

The sound of shattered glass was all the warning watts got, and he gasped as the form of Ruby flashed and transformed into viciously grinning Neo as she lunged at him with her blade aimed right at his throat.

The man stumbled back, slipping and falling.

Neo's parasol didn't alter to follow his throat.

Instead it stabbed directly into his eye.

Watts' scream made even her flinch and the surprise startled her enough that she nearly missed the dust round that slammed against hazels head, stunning him for a moment.

There was a blur of red and Tyrian ducked under a heavy-handed scythe that cleaved into the dirt as it sailed past. The madman giggled as he lashed out with a foot and kicked Ruby away, and in her state, tumbling to the ground. Another shot fired off, this time into Hazel's chest.

Watts, still screaming shot out a hand. Lightning arced in the direction of the shot, and Torchwick cursed as he was forced to leap out of cover to avoid it.

There was a grunt from him as Tyrian fired off a round into his chest and sent him to the floor.

Neo was one the Faunus a second later. Against almost anyone else Neo's sword might have pierced the back of his head, but Tyrian just laughed as he bent over _backwards_ and slashed at her.

She managed to block, but failed to avoid Hazel as he grabbed her and slammed her into the ground.

And just like that, it was over.

Cinder stared as Hazel brought all three of them forward and dropped them to the ground in a line, as I for execution. The laughing hadn't stopped, in fact, if anything Tyrian's made howls had gotten even louder.

"That's it?" he cackled. "That was your attempt to kill us? Oh that's wonderful, simply wonderful! That was _funny!"_ he hummed, resting a hand under his chin as he made a show of contemplating something.

"I wonder then, what we should do with you next?"

"Kill them!" Watts howled, blood pouring from his ruined right eye. His Aura couldn't fix something like that. "Start with the Silver eyed girl and kill them!"

Cinder inhaled sharply. "But-"

"Silence!" he roared. "You're on thin ice yourself _girl_. This is the child you travelled with, the one you allowed to expose you. It's about time I _corrected_ your mistake."

She made to speak, to argue or insult him she wasn't sure, but she stopped when a whisper met her ears.

" _Cinder._ "

She turned to Ruby, still on the ground and barely managing to raise herself up to look her in the eye.

The sight twisted her stomach, made her sick. She looked so weak, _Ruby_ her _hero_ looked so weak and feeble. It wasn't right. There was something so _wrong_ with what she was seeing. The girl who had rescued her, the girl that had saved her, the girl who-

Ruby reached out her hand.

Cinder's blood turned to ice.

 _What._

What was she doing? Was she…. Was she serious?! She couldn't honestly think that-

"It's a bad plan." She murmured. "But it's all I have… I need your help Cinder… please."

She stared.

"You can't be serious."

"I-"

Ruby was cut off with a scream as lightning suddenly rocketed towards her body and forced her down. The Fall maidens eyes widened in horror as Ruby's body spasmed and convulsed from the shocks.

Her head snapped to the side.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed.

"Killing her obviously," the doctor snarled. "but before I do, I'll make it hurt."

"We don't need to _kill her!"_ Cinder snarled. "We should be going after the Nikos girl, not torturing a child!"

Hazel watched them with a frown. "It's unnecessary." He said.

Watts scoffed, and as his hands twitched Ruby's body shook harder.

 _If this went on any longer she would die_.

Cinder grit her teeth and watched.

The twisting feeling inside had gotten tighter, more painful. She knew what it wanted her to do; it wanted her to step in and stop this. To save Ruby.

She couldn't. They'd both made their choices, they'd both picked their sides.

Hadn't they?

There was a flicker in the corner of her eye, and Cinder turned to see Emerald and Mercury looking in, forcing themselves to look on. What was this? Why did this feel so… Unnatural?

None of them should have cared. Not her, not her disciples and not Roman or Neo, who were splayed out on the ground beside the girl.

And yet they did, for some, strange, painful, incomprehensible reason.

Ruby choked out a breath as Watts suddenly stopped, growling angrily to himself. " that little display had left him panting. Qrow had done more damage to him than he let on it seemed.

Cinder's traitorous mind began working all on its own. "Are you done?" Tyrian suddenly asked, even he looked… bored wasn't the right word. He was annoyed. The fun had been taken out of this sight now, because of Watts' tantrum. He was more focused on nursing his burnt side that was no doubt stinging now.

Her mind worked faster, pieces clicking together.

Torchwick pushed himself up slowly, as if a great strain was on his body. Hazel saw it, and sighed morosely.

"Stay down. It will be less painful for you that way.

"He…" the flamboyant thief laughed. "Good idea, if I was anyone else I mean, but personally I'd like to go down with a bang you know?" he flipped open his scroll and tossed it through the air. "Hey Cindy, look familiar?"

She caught it instinctually, peering down at, and understanding.

The black queen virus.

She never had given it back to Watts… had she?

"Cinder." Ruby's whispered, one more time. "Please.

And then something snapped.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby was in agony. She'd never felt like this before, like any second she'd drop dead just from the strain of breathing.

Every inch of her screamed out, begging her to rest, somehow, to save herself.

And even then she forced herself to speak, trough the pain. She forced herself to listen through the ringing, she forced herself to see through the haze.

She felt a change, so heard a sharp his and she saw Cinder as she turned, summoned her glass swords and pointed them at Watts.

The man's eye widened. "What are you-"

Green and silver blurred past.

They'd been waiting for the order.

Emerald and Mercury were on the man in an instant and raised his arms to protect himself.

Emerald went for his right.

Mercury went for his left.

Both, were blown clean off.

Watts screamed as fountains of blood spewed from his cleaved limbs and he fell back, in more agony than he had been from losing his eye.

Tyrian and Hazel leapt away as Cinder hurled a human-sized fireball between them.

They might have counterattacked, they might have returned the favour if at that moment there wasn't a crash, and a ten-ton Atlesian Paladin breaking through buildings.

Torchwick laughed manically, as if he couldn't believe he'd managed it.

"I got a give it to you Doc, that virus is ridiculously strong. Taking control of machines meant to be piloted by humans is something the Atlas government would kill to get rid of. Good job."

" _Aaaaaahhhhhh!"_

"Heh, I guess you're busy with other things."

"Roman!" Cinder snapped. "Take Ruby and go, get us a bullhead out of this city!"

The laughed again as Tyrian was batted away by a massive metal arm. "Taking orders from you again already, gee fine." He rested a hand on Ruby's back. "You ready to get out of here kid?"

No response.

"Kid?"

Ruby's vision faded to white.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Honeycomb.

Ruby wasn't sure why, but that was the first thing she noticed. The smell of honeycomb.

The second thing she noticed, unfortunately, was the throbbing pain she could feel throughout her whole body, and the burning sensation behind closed eyes.

Pain meant she was alive though… so that was… good.

Didn't mean it was any less unpleasant… at least she was laying on something soft.

A bed, obviously, but Ruby frowned when she heard light breathing to her side.

Opening her eyes was a struggle, if not because it felt like she hadn't blinked in an eternity, then because the light gave her a headache she really wasn't ready for.

It did let her see Yang though. Her sister was sat on a chair, head down as she slept.

How… how long had she been there?

Her eyes roamed up and down almost instinctually, and Ruby bit her lip at what she could see.

Yang wasn't wearing much. A pair of baggy pants and a grey t-shirt. Not exactly much to think about, other than that face it showed that the rest of her body was covered in bandages.

The only thing free was her obsidian limbs, while the rest; her left arm and leg, her chest, her midriff, her neck. She even had a band-aid under her left eye. It looked like if it had been even an inch higher she would have lost it.

What had happened to her sister?

She looked tired, exhausted even. She should probably just let her rest. She could get out of bed without waking her-

"Argh!"

Ruby cried out as she tried to move. She'd put pressure on her arm and pain had lanced through her body, rattling her bones.

Yang was practically shocked awake by the noise, her eyes flickering wildly for a second before falling on her little sister.

"Ruby!" she gasped, moving closer to the bed. "You're awake."

"Y-yang." She grit out, the sensation in her arm having turned into an even more throbbing pain than before. "W-what… what happened?"

"I-" Yang looked away. She sighed heavily and stood up, pulling her chair closer and sitting down. "Things are crazy right now Ru… I'll be honest, I don't really know how to explain it. I-" she cut herself off, running a hand through her hair.

"I'll let everyone know you're awake… we can talk about to with all of them."

Ruby's confusion was clear if Yang's wince was anything to go by. "All of them?"

Another sigh. "Are you gonna show yourself already or pretend you're not there?"

There was a pause, before light refracted in the corner and Neo suddenly appeared next to her bed, eyes flashing back and forth as she inspected every inch of Ruby's form.

"N-Neo?!" Ruby gaped. "What are you doing here?!"

"She's been sticking around watching you while you slept." Yang groused, glaring at Neo's back. The mute didn't even bother with her, far more focused on Ruby's condition. "It's been a long week."

Ruby stilted. "… a week?"

A few minutes later Yang went to get the 'others' and bring them back to Ruby's room. It just so happened that said 'others' were people she never thought would be anywhere near her home, much less in proximity to her dad.

That being said, her dad, Qorw and Yang were the closest to her, around her bed with varying degrees of concern on their faces, as well as suspicion being thrown at the other two groups: those being Roman and Neo, who stood in one corner of the room. The older thief shooting smug looks at the professional huntsman while Neo looked around her room, nosily glancing at anything and everything not nailed down. Further back, probably the _most_ surprising if only because Ruby would have thought they'd have left to find somewhere safer to hide out, was Cinder, Emerald and Mercury.

The silver-haired teen was probably the most relaxed out of the three if the way he leaned against the wall was anything to go by. He still watched them though. He _was_ a criminal in a room full of Huntsmen level fighters.

Emerald was much more suspicious. Sending glares Roman's way, while her red orbs flickered constantly between Ruby and Cinder.

Cinder, who wouldn't meet her eyes at the moment, more specifically… couldn't look at her arm. It was bandaged all the way up the burning, but even still, it now lay limply at the reapers side.

Ruby didn't think she had the never to bring it up.

"So," She swallowed after a long period of uncomfortable silence. "What did I miss?"

Qrow sighed, and she was taken aback with how he too was covered in bandaged, some even running under his clothes. In fact, all of them bar her dad were wrapped up in one way or another. "A lot of stuff's happened kiddo."

He reached for his flask and took a swig, as if preparing himself to recount it all.

"Vale's… we lost Vale. As in, the entire city. It's swarming with Grimm after that big ass dragon decided to make the school its nest. It keeps spawning Grimm. Huntsmen are working around the clock to contain it but it means civilians are pouring out of the place. They're everywhere, towns, villages, some refugees even travelling to the other kingdoms… what's worse, the CCT's been destroyed. All we've got are local signals within the Kingdom, and even their bad."

"Contact with the outside world is screwed." Torchwick picked up, ignoring the glares he got from the older scythe wielder. "Without people able to get in contact with proper authorities there's panic, which means even more Grimm. It's a big mess if you ask me."

Qrow's eyes narrowed. "Are you off all people really the best to start talking about authority?"

The thief in question rolled his eyes. "I'm a master thief, not an anarchist. I know how people need rules and kingdom protection, relax will you?" he turned back to Ruby.

"My contacts are practically scattered to the wind, but I managed to get a few things before everybody went underground; Atlas recalled all t' troops. Everybody they've got they've brought back to defend their own borders. Apparently things have gotten pretty tense up there between the council and its people. There've been rumours of a dust embargo being set in place."

He shook his head. "That'll make it even harder for people to defend themselves in Vale now."

"Other than that," Qrow cut in again. "We've heard nothing… I don't think Vale even has a solid power to look over things: the council's gone, the Huntsmen are too busy to deal with it and the Order's dealing with the people still in Vale. Hel, even the White Fang's pulled out. Nobody has any idea how the other kingdoms are _really_ reacting to all this, but we've heard no word from them yet." He ran a hand through his hair.

" And Worse… Ozpin's dead."

Ruby looked away from him, unconsciously glancing at Cinder. She caught the look and closed her eyes, shaking her head.

She hadn't told anyone else about… what she'd done.

She… she barely remembered what she'd done.

"I'm hoping I can get in contact with some of his other associates," Qrow went on. "Glynda's spearheading the containment in Vale so she's not much help… Ironwoods in Atlas being himself. The only idea I've got is Leo."

"Don't."

The Branwen twin blinked, turning to Cinder as she'd spoken. "You barely speak to anyone for a week and you say that? What are you talking about?"

Cinder glanced at Ruby again, and looked away, muttering something under her breath. "When we got into Beacon it was as students from Haven," she said eventually. "other students didn't so much as bat an eye at us because we _did_ join up at Haven… or… I did anyway."

She turned to Qrow. "Do you remember when we parted years back?"

He nodded. "Yeah, you took a boat to Haven to become a huntress. Guessing that didn't work out."

She quirked an eyebrow in challenge. "That's the thing though, it did; I got to Haven fine, signed everything I needed to, pass initiation and became a first-year huntress. Thing is, just a day later I get a call from the headmaster himself to met him in his office." She gave Qrow a hard look.

"When I got there, I was surrounded by Watts and Tyrian."

"… what?" Qrow's voice was deadly.

His face even more so.

"Leonardo's working for Salem." Cinder told them. "Since they knew I'd been travelling with you they thought it was a great opportunity to get rid of me; invite me into a room where nobody could see or hear me and the three of them would kill me before I could even defend myself… Salem had other plans."

Qrow stiffened. "You've met her?"

It was a question asked in shock. Qrow was Ozpins agent yes, his eye, but he'd never actually seen his bosses mortal enemy in person, only heard things.

"Yes." She nodded. "People against her usually don't live to tell about it, but she had plans for me. She didn't actually meet me face to face at the time, but even through a Grimm it was enough."

Yang crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back. A frown spread across her features as she thought. "She wanted you to be her Maiden."

Cinder nodded. "She gave me a choice. She asked me to join her and serve as her Maiden and in return she'd offer me power and protection against her forces."

"Not much of a choice considering." Qrow grumbled, but paused when Cinder shook her head.

"No actually," she said, sounding… intrigued if anything. "Salem said that if I chose to decline she would order her servants to let me leave. I was to be unharmed until I was able to make a suitable distance between myself and Haven Academy. If that had been what I'd gone for I have a feeling she would have kept her word."

That just made Yang's frown deepen. "So you accepted then? You actually decided to join her?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"That's not your business."

Yang felt her jaw clench, but forced herself to stay quiet. Things were already complicated.

"Damnit." Qrow muttered. "If he's with them things are even worse than I thought."

"What about everybody else?" Ruby's quiet voice came. They turned to her, as she stared down at her lap. Her limbs were twitching, in a constant, involuntary way. "What happened to the others? Is… did you find Amber's…"

Qrow closed his eyes. "Yeah… I did." When Ruby didn't say anything he went on.

"I got there right as the power transferred to the Nikos girl. Watts killed her, I got there and fought him off." He frowned to himself. "Team JNPR's gone MIA. Nobody knows where they've gone but we can't find them somehow., and with comms down they're completely off the grid."

"What about my team? Are they okay?"

A pause.

Yang sighed. "Everybody out. Give me a minute with my sister."

Their dad shot them a worried look, but before he could even speak Yang shook her head. "This is a talk between teammates dad… just, let me talk with my leader.

He wasn't pleased about it, neither was Qrow, but Ironically it was the criminals who were the most help; Roman, Mercury and Neo herded they huntsmen out of the room. Emerald offered to be helpful and bring something for them to eat and Cinder…

She stepped out outside without another word, closing the door behind her.

Yang's finger tapped the chair arm slowly for a moment, letting the quiet sink in.

"Yang." Ruby croaked. "Where are my teammates?"

"The other students were attacked too." Yang told her instead of answering the question. "I didn't see them myself, but Qrow told me about them; Tyrian and Hazel were their names. You know them?"

A nod.

"Right… they attacked the other teams; CRDL, CVFY, along with Weiss and Penny. It was bad… they didn't stand a chance."

Ruby swallowed. "What happened to my partner."

"She's alive." Yang was quick to assure her. "But she was in a bad way last time I saw her; she wasn't awake, and doctors were all over her. Last thing I heard she was being taken back to Atlas for treatment."

"Why…" The younger girl asked nervously. "Why does it sound like you're leaving something out?"

A longer, deeper sigh. "Not everybody made it out of that fight. Mirark saved Weiss just in time, but she was too late for Yatsuhashi… and Penny. They're dead, and Coco was taken in for treatment. She was poisoned and maimed. They don't think she'll make it."

Ruby felt her eyes burn again, but this time, something wet tickled the corner of her eyes. "I-" she was crying. She inhaled, slowly, forcing it back. "And… Blake?"

 _Crack!_

Ruby jumped at the sound as the chair splintered under Yang's grip. The blonde realised what she'd done a second later and withdrew her hands, turning away.

"She's gone."

"W-what?"

"She ran." Yang growled. "We were attacked by the guy called Adam Taraus. We barely got out of there thanks to- it doesn't matter, we I carried her out if here and the next thing I knew she was attacking him.

Yang ran a hand over the bandaged on her arm and neck.

Ruby shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense." She argued. "Blake wouldn't-"

"I'm not stupid Ruby." Yang snapped. "I know she wouldn't. there was something wrong with her, something to do with that _thing_. Are you she it was a wraith?"

"I- what?" she asked, confused. "What else could it be? We both saw it. There's nothing else that looks like that."

"Except whatever Merlot made… it was a Grimm Ruby, a real one. I could see it in Blake's eye."

"You… you can't blame her for what happened Yang. If she-"

"Don't Ruby," Yang snarled. "after the dust was settled she disappeared. Nobody knows where she's gone. She didn't tell me, she didn't tell anyone and she could be anywhere. She left."

Ruby swallowed. Yang didn't say it. She didn't say what she meant.

 _Like everyone else._

"Yang…"

"Just drop it Ruby." Yang sighed at last. "We've… there's something else we have to talk about."

"What?"

"Cinder turned against them… right at the last minute and got you out of there. Honestly I think it's the only reason dad's letting them stay here right now, but if they don't know where you are, they will eventually… that's why… that's why I need to go."

Her little sister's head shot up.

"What!? Why!?"

Yang closed her eyes and leaned back again. "They need something to keep their attention. If they find out both of you are on Patch they might not even send someone like Tyrian or whatever after you. For all we know patch could be swallowed by Grimm."

"So I'm leaving. I don't intend to ask them to come after me, but if they're focused on me it can give you time to recover."

"Recover?!" Ruby spluttered. "I don't need to- you can't just leave because of me. I can handle myself!"

"Can you?" Yang asked.

"Yes!"

The blonde frowned, and steeled herself as she reached out and poked Ruby's arm.

" _Argh_!" she spasmed, shaking at the sudden contact with her burnt limb.

"You can't." Yang said harshly. "Cinder told me… she told me what she did to you. You _can't_ go out there now, not until you've recovered."

" _You_ can't go out there by yourself!" Ruby heaved, sweat pouring off her face as agony racked through her body at just that simple touch. "How is that even going to work? How are you going to get their attention."

Yang's grin was strained, but it was there. "Hey, you can't ask questions like that to Yang Branwen. The names got a reputation."

"… Yang you _can't."_

"I can." She responded firmly. "And I will." A pause. "I need to get ready. I'll… I'll talk to you again before I go."

She turned, walking to the door. Right as her hand grasped the handle she heard her sister again.

Her voice, so weak.

"Please don't die too."

Yang didn't turn back, she might have lost her nerve if she had, but she nodded, before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

And stood right in front of Cinder, who'd been waiting outside the whole time.

Yang closed her eyes, forcing back the anger she felt towards this person.

She'd hurt Ruby.

But she was also the reason she was alive.

"So," Yang asked, leaning against the wall opposite her. "How bad is she really?"

Cinder clenched her teeth, working her jaw slowly. "Bad." She said at last. "She's… in a bad way, and it'll get worse."

"What do you mean?"

"Her arms not just burnt." Cinder explained. "I melted it from the inside out. I liquified her bones. Her aura might have just barely saved it, but even if she manages to regain working function of her right arm again, she'll never be able to use it in a fight. It's completely useless in that fact. That's not even considering what Watts did to her."

"And that is…?"

Cinder looked to the ceiling. "Electricity can damage the body in a lot of ways, some even fatal. You saw a little of it didn't you? The spasming?"

"…yeah."

"It'll get worse; Muscle contractions, spasming, throbbing pain, locking up completely."

Yang swallowed. "Is… is it permanent?"

"No, but only because she has Aura. Even then it could take months for her to regain proper control of her body again, _if_ she recovers properly."

"And then she'll be better?"

Cinder shot her a withering look. "How many of her friends died in that attack exactly? Not counting Amber, she still has her schoolmates to morn, not to mention her partner's not even on the same Kingdom anymore, and she has no clue if she's really okay. I don't know what that says about you, but people _break_ after things like that."

Yang didn't know what to say to that.

She really didn't.

Cinder probably guessed that and sighed.

"Ten months." She said. "Give her ten months to get herself together, and even then don't expect any miracles."

"And then what?"

"I was talking with Qrow… after ten months, if you really intend to draw them away… then make your way to Mistral We're not exactly sure what we're going to do, but even so, that's the best place to meet."

"…Alright."

"Is there something bothering you?"

Yang crossed her arms.

"I'm not exactly comfortable leaving my sister with…" she trailed off, but Cinder got her meaning.

"I understand. I doubt Torchwick or Neo for that matter would let anything happen to her, but even so I'll make sure of it, you have my word."

It was the best Yang was going to get, she knew that. "Fine. I'll leave her in your hands. I… I need to do some things before I go."

"I know." Cinder nodded. "But before you do, I just have one request. It's a simple one, I think."

"Yeah."

Cinder looked into her eyes.

"Keep moving forward."

Yang stiffened, and Cinder smiled bitterly. "Those words sound familiar… don't they?"

"I… yeah… yeah they do."

"It's something all Avatars are apparently holding within them. Those words, whoever spoke them."

"How do you know?"

"You felt it didn't you? That familiarity? I've met other Avatars, all of them reacted the same… keep those words with you Yang, perhaps they'll help you in some way. Hopefully."

With nothing else to say, yang nodded, and turned to leave Cinder. The maiden gave one last parting word.

"Good luck."

Yang nodded. She felt like she would need it.

Things were about to change. All over the world people were going to react to what happened to Vale and change. Hopefully Cinder was right and those words, whatever they meant, so suddenly arriving and yet resonating in her so clearly, would help her.

Keep moving forward.

She liked the sound of that.

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **So this is it, the end of an era, the lovingly dubbed 'Beacon Arc' that the fandom praises as the best of RWBY.**

 **Some parts, i agree with, others, not so much.**

 **But either way that's the end of it, and similarly, that is the end of my first arc. The name of course is the same, though the second is much different. things have already been stacked up _much_ differently than before. I've named this next arc 'The Mystic Arc'**

 **Hopefully** **you'll enjoy it, it'll get a lot messier for our heros from here on out.**

 **So far, what do you think? Has it been good? Bad?**

 **For me, I'll say that if I could go back there would be a lot of things I would change, mostly in the delivery I think. there was a lot I enjoyed obviously, but my favourite to write were the Roman and Neo scenes, they were just** _fun_ **to me. THe budding relationships were a close second, but I'll have plenty of time to write more of both I guess.**

 **Really though, let me know what you think. this is where I'll be branching out a lot more from Canon than before. there'll still be some familiar bits, places and people, but the story itself should be mostly new and hopefully you'll like it.**

 **Anyway, if you liked _this_ chapter, be sure to follow, favourite and most certainly Review.**

 **For now, that's all I have to say.**

 **Bye!**

 **P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre**


	39. Red: Part 2

**So here we are again. I'm not sure what to call this honestly. Is it the Arc 2 or Book 2?**

 **It's certainly long enough for it, but I feel that would be confusing.**

 **Besides I'm not exactly sure how long this will be. It might be shorter, but I've got a feeling it'll be even longer than the Beacon Arc.**

 **Not exactly sure if that's crazy or not but we'll find out I guess.**

 **Okay, I've broken into a tangent so I'll get back to the actually story and say here we go! The beginning of the second Arc.**

 **I hope you're ready, there'll be more magic, bigger breaks from Cannon and if I'm fast enough, I might even overtake it soon.**

 **Not that it really matters, I expect this to be a _whole_ lot different from what you're used to.**

 **Lets go.**

 **...**

* * *

Remnant.

A world full of despair, filled with horrors yet undiscovered and creatures more terrifying than ever could be imagined.

A world so fragile, thrown into chaos.

At this time, the powers of man are lost, divided amongst themselves after the fall of one of their Beacons, their hopes.

And _hope_ is one of their greatest strengths. It is almost pitiable, to see such a species cry out in mourning of its own, to see them turn their backs on each other like they have time and time again throughout the annals of History.

Perhaps this civilisation, one that had garnered so much potential even amidst its failures, will follow the rest and fade away, as if it were nothing.

Perhaps it is too early to tell… but the seeds have been sown, and the peace that the people have treasured for nearly a century is about to shatter.

Whether humanity can last another war, while the Creatures of Grimm return to their old power, while lost tales resurface and being from long ago breathe new life, only time will tell. Only time will tell if Humanity is truly deserving of the property they have been granted.

If they can see past the false truths.

If they can band together as they did so long ago not under one, but many.

If they can rekindle the spark of hope.

And…

Even then, forces beyond their ken will look on.

Waiting.

Learning.

Judging.

I wonder what they will decide.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Sunlight was what woke Ruby.

It was what woke her from a dream already fading from memory.

A dream she knew, she had before. It was all she dreamt about since Beacon.

The same thing.

A field of gold, under a white sky, and person, face shrouded in shadow on a hilltop.

It left her numb, for those few brief moments she felt nothing, as if on a cloud, at peace.

Before reality came crashing back, and her body throbbed with pain, reminding her that she was awake.

And the last remnants of the dream would vanish.

She opened her eyes and let out a long, tired breath.

As if summoned, and Ruby was sure it was no coincidence, her bedroom door opened. Neo pushed in a wheelchair she gotten - _stolen_ \- from somewhere and parked it beside her bed.

She closed her eyes again.

"How long were you waiting outside?"

Three taps, one for each hour. She'd overslept again… something becoming almost routine now.

"What... time is it now?

One tap. She'd slept past noon… again.

Ruby sighed. "Don't you have anything else you could do?"

No response, not like she expected one. It wasn't like Neo could answer more complicated questions with a few taps.

What she did get however, was the feeling of two hands raising her up to sit straight. She winced at the contact, even as Neo tried to be as careful as she could, her back arched in pain as fingers brushed her back.

Rub kept her eyes closed, if only so she didn't have to watch as Neo gently pulled off her overshirt and clothed her in a clean one.

Ruby forced the bile that built in her throat back down.

Having to be dressed by someone else. It made her sick, that she couldn't even do that herself now.

She'd tried. At the start she'd tried.

She'd writhed on the floor for an hour afterwards before anyone came to check on her.

Her body just wouldn't let her. She could barely raise her arms, either of them.

Neo had decided she'd be the one to help her get dressed in the mornings.

Ruby hated her for that.

It was stupid, it was childish and ridiculous, but Ruby couldn't help how much she hated Neo for it.

She didn't say anything, didn't try an convey it is anyway.

But she knew Neo felt it all the same.

But, Neo being Neo, she ignored it. She didn't act like there was anything wrong, didn't act like the person she had to dress in the morning was disgusted at her presence.

Because she knew that Ruby was disgusted with herself too.

When Neo was done with what Ruby thought was a frankly degrading process, she lifted the younger girl into the wheelchair and steered her out of her room.

The smell of breakfast (lunch) met her nose as she entered the kitchen, and her dad turned to smile at her as she entered.

"Hey sweetie," Tai said, lifting a plate of hot food and setting it on the table as Neo pushed her to the table. "I saved what was yours so eat up."

"or don't" Roman, who was sitting across the table with a mug of coffee in his hand, shrugged. "I could go for another snack."

Taiyang glared at the thief. " _You_ are already mooching off me enough. You got breakfast, if you want more then work for it."

Roman shrugged. Ruby thought he looked odd without his hat, but he wasn't the type of person to wear something like that indoors, so instead she was _assaulted_ with his bright orange hair every time she saw him. Really, hispresence here was one of the things keeping Ruby going, even despite the seemingly constant bickering between him and her father.

"What am I supposed to do, work an honest job? Even if that didn't clash with my style, I'm still a wanted criminal you know? Not the sort of thing that helps at an interview."

Tai grumbled something under his breath, but left it.

While they were distracted with each other, Ruby shifted in her chair, reaching for a spoon to-

"Agh!"

Neo was next to her an instant later, even before the utensil clattered to the ground.

Ruby help back a whimper as her fingers spasmed and seethed as her right hand sent bolts of pain up her arm.

"Ruby!" her dad gasped, rushing over to her. A pointless gesture considering it left him with nothing to do but let his hands hover over her lightly.

"What happened? A voice asked, as a head of silver hair pocked through the doorway. "Somethin' break?"

"No," Roman scowled, eyes tearing away from the younger girl to glare at mercury. "What are you doing in the living room anyway? Can't you be helpful or something?"

Roman resolutely ignored the hypocrisy in his words.

Mercury just shrugged, as he moved to sit down at the table too. "Was watching the news," he said as he kicked his feet up and rested them on the table. "Not much of a change really, people are still crying about having to move outta the city. Some of the news channels are even blaming Huntsmen for not protecting them well enough."

Tai scoffed. "Of course they are; people always find others to blame to make themselves feel better."

"I dunno," The assassin shrugged. "Some of it's a little ridiculous. One was even talking conspiracy theories about how the Huntsmen did it so people would have to pay more protection against the Grimm."

"Seriously?"

Ruby ignored the conversation around her, mostly due to the fact she was glaring at her plate.

While they talked about what was going on in the outside world, Ruby couldn't even pick up a _spoon_! She was pathetic, completely useless.

And what made it worse, was that Neo had picked it up, and slowly began feeding her.

It was humiliating, like she was a child.

The logical part of her mind told her Neo was helping her, that there was no maliciousness behind it and that she needed it.

It was there, and probably the only thing keeping her from snapping at the multi-coloured woman.

It still didn't make it any better, nor the fact that she knew resisting, refusing to eat would make her seem like even more of a child.

So she opened her mouth, letting Neo feed her slowly.

The food… was disgusting.

For some reason, some reason she didn't know, didn't care to know or didn't want to, the food tasted like ashes in her mouth, like it had for the last week.

Everything she ate tasted the same, like ash.

She wanted to spit it out, throw it up and scrub the taste off her tongue.

But again, that logical part of her mind told her she needed to eat. So she forced it down without a word as Nero fed her another pile of ash-flavoured food.

"Sounds just like them," Roman groused as he took a sip from his mug. "They can't exactly blame the Grimm for tearing down the Coliseum, as much as they want to."

Mercury shook his head. "Nah, even if they could they'd blame the Huntsmen. If they didn't people would turn on each other. The way they look at it it's better to have somebody to focus on that go crazy. They're blaming the White Fang too, it's just that they were doing that before and…"

"And this is the biggest tragedy people have experienced in living memory." The thief sighed, before giving the silver-haired teen a suspicious look. "How do you know about this stuff anyway? I didn't think a killer would be interested in that sort of stuff."

He got an eye roll in response. "My dad was a master assassin. He was training me to be the same, made me learn how to get people to hate each other to make a mark easier. It was pretty good advice, he taught me some good stud before I killed him."

Taiyang blanched at that, and once again probably forced himself that these criminals had saved his daughter, so they couldn't be as bad as he thought they were.

It was hard though.

"Anyway," the blond parent said, moving the conversation away from patricide. "Do you know where Cinder is? I haven't seen her since this morning."

"She said she was going hunting." The teen told him. "Emerald went with her because… well she's Emerald. They should be back any-"

Whether it was bad luck or amazingly timed; at that moment the front door opened and the two individuals in question entered. Cinder carried a sling over her shoulder, hooked on it, a few rabbits with tell-tale arrow wounds marked between their eyes.

Emerald too had game, a pig, amazingly, that she left outside.

Roman eyed it from where he sat. "How did you manage to bag that thing?"

The younger thief smirked proudly. "Skill. That, and tricking it into seeing nothing instead of the two of us coming for it."

"You must be so proud." Mercury drawled sarcastically.

"Coming from the guy with no pride."

"Oi!"

There was a pause, as the others in the room noticed the sudden tension. They turned, to see Ruby and Cinder, staring at each other.

Their gazes were unreadable for a moment, until the older of them looked away, and murmured. "We need to talk about this now."

Roman sighed. "Guess we're doing this now. Fine."

Ruby showed so confusion as everyone sat at the table, but said nothing as Cinder sighed.

Neo and Roman sat on either side of her, Emerald, then Cinder, then Mercury and her dad were next. There was a noticeable space missing.

"We have months." She said. "Not even a year, just months. We need to… to figure out what we're going to do about…" she glanced to her side, Ruby caught her gaze before she could hide it.

"Me." The girl mumbled. "What about me?"

"You're hurt kid." Roman told her, oddly saving Cinder from answering. "Real badly. I've seen dead people in better shape than you and you know it. If you're going to work through this we need to figure out how."

Ruby slumped at his words. She knew he was right but it just made her feel… tired.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Just… just confirm a few things," her dad said, showing a file. It was a medical one. "And listen to what the doctor's think about it?"

"I've…. Been to the doctors?" Ruby frowned.

"Not officially." Roman told her. "One of my uh 'contacts' was a 'doctor' that looked you over when you were out of it. We didn't know if you would actually make it so…" he trailed off. Ruby nodded reluctantly. She could understand that, even if she didn't like it.

He nodded in return. "Right, so we'll start with the most obvious one. Hey blondie, pass me that."

Taiyang did so, and Torchwick flicked through a dozen or so pages before he found the one he was looking for.

"Right, so, your arm. Can you take the wrapping off it Neo?"

The girl nodded and did just that. Again, Ruby had to stop herself from arguing that she could do it herself… because she knew she couldn't.

When it came off there were a few sharp intakes of breath. From her dad, Cinder and surprisingly Emerald. Neo, of course stayed silent, but the murderous glare she sent Cinder's way let them know exactly what she thought.

Everything below her elbow was blistered and red; a sheet of unhealthy red kin. Her hand had a thick line running straight down, on both the front band back of her palm. It was blackened and charred with crusted edges along the wound.

It was a sword wound.

Roman inhale deeply, before deciding that wasn't enough and took out a cigar. He lit it, and took a calming drag.

She set the file down on the table, along with an image. It was Ruby's arm again.

But it was… far worse.

The limb was blackened all over, as Ruby had expected. It had looked that bad in the beginning. But this picture showed worse.

There were patches of skin missing, in places, flesh was gone and in its wake she could see yellowed pus and exposed bone.

It was disgusting.

Ruby had seen gore.

But realising she was looking at her own arm.

It made her sick.

"The doc said it looked like fourth and fifth-degree burns in this pic." Roman explained. "When your Aura kicked in it got to work on trying to save your arm. The doctor predicted it might go down to a first-degree burn if you were lucky. From the looks of it I think it might be a-"

"Second-degree burn." Mercury supplied. Then when the others gave him a look he added. "What?! Not ever assassination is meant to be found out. Sometimes it's meant to look like an accident."

"The more I hear the less I want to know." Roman muttered. He shook his head. "Anyway, yeah, the kids right. It's moved down to second-degree burns which… is good _and_ bad. The uh, good news is that your arms not gonna fall off any time soon. The bad news is that because you Aura 'healed' your arm, it brought back the nerves in it, meaning you can feel pain." He bit his lip. "and there's another thing…"

Ruby looked up at him. "What else could there be wrong with it?"

"It… the doc didn't know why, but after a week your arm… just stopped healing. I don't know what that means exactly or why but-"

"It was because the fire wasn't natural." Cinder whispered. The others turned their attention to her now, even as she refused to meet their looks.

"The flames were brought about by magic, not by dust, or a semblance or some other kind of fuel. Here's a… a flavour to them that does more than just burn. Coupled with the face it worked from the inside it… it is possible it will not heal anymore. That it did this far is a miracle on its own."

Ruby swallowed. "So… you're saying… it could be stuck like this? _That I could be stuck like this?_ "

The silence was enough to answer her question.

Ruby felt a familiar bile in her throat and she choked back something angry.

"What am I- what am I supposed to do then?" she grit out, ignoring with everything she could the wet feeling that ran down her cheeks. "What… I can't even use a… a _fucking_ _spoon!_ How am I supposed to do anything? I- how am I supposed to fight!?"Roman didn't have an answer. Cinder didn't have an answer. Her dad didn't have an answer. But.

"I… well there might be something." Mercury tired. Ruby looked to him with a spark of hope that made him wince. "I don't know… I mean… you could always…"

He glanced down.

At his own legs.

Ruby's face darkened.

"No."

"It's not that bad," he assured her. "It was hard to get used it at first but it was better than having no-"

"No."

Cinder bit the inside of her mouth. "Mercury… isn't wrong Ruby. It might be the only way you can-"

"I said _NO_!" she snapped. A second later, before anyone could think to protest more, a thing blade sank into the table. Neo threatened them with a furious glare of her own. The statement was clear.

 _Ruby said no._

Cinder perhaps was the only one not swayed, and even with the glare the multi-coloured girl sent her she spoke. "How do you expect to fight then? You can't use Crescent Rose with one hand."

Ruby grimaced. "I think of something. I'm not _cutting off my arm_ just because it doesn't work. It's a part of me. I'm not losing it."

"Sorry." Mercury murmured, scratching the back of his head. "I shouldn't have said it."

Ruby closed her eyes. "Don't be." She sighed "You were just trying to help. I just… I'd rather not replace my arm. I'll think of something." The fell into an awkward silence, and again, Cinder couldn't meet Ruby's eyes once again.

"…Right." Roman said to break the moment. "Well, that wasn't the only thing the doctor of mine went over. The rest of you isn't _as_ bad, but it'll still take a while for you to… get back up to speed I guess is a way to put it."

Taiyang clearly wasn't enjoying what he was hearing, judging by the way his face contorted. But even so, he was the first one to speak up again. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Well…" Roman hesitated, running a hand over his head. "I'm not exactly sure what he means, but nothing's _permanently_ damaged. It's more like… I don't know what this means, he' written her that it's like you've had a stroke."

"What!?" she gasped.

"Give me that." Her dad said suddenly, taking the file himself and reading through it quickly. His face was firm for a moment, before slowly relaxing. Just a little.

"It's not an actual stroke, thank god." He glared at the thief. "Read it properly next time."

"Well?" Ruby urged. "What _does_ it say?"

"The shocks disrupted how your body reacts to input, not your brain." Her dad explained carefully. "When you try to do something, say, move your arm, or feel something foreign touch you, it sends signals all over. Your muscles contract erratically and you feel spasms because of it. It can go away eventually, but you'll have to… 'Relearn' to do everything; walk, run, grab, fight… and everything else."

"Huh," Roman blinked, surprised. "I didn't think you'd know something like that blondie."

Tai shook his head. "When I started… getting better I got worried about what might happen to Yang, especially when she said she wanted to be a Huntress. So when she went to bed every night I took a course; basic medical training. I'm not a doctor, but I can diagnose physical damage, maybe treat the less dangerous ones."

Emerald, who had been mostly quiet this who time, blinked. "That… sounds nice. I mean… wow."

"What?"

"O-oh um, nothing sir. Just… loving father material… new experience for me I think."

"Really?" Roman drawled. "That's all you had to say? That you have absentee-daddy issues?"

Emeralds scowl was livid, and for good reason. Ruby glared at the older man.

"Roman, stop it. I know you're annoyed but leave Emerald out of it."

Neo nodded, and Roman shot her an indignant look of betrayal.

Ruby turned to the green haired girl, who looked surprised at the sudden defence.

"Is that all you wanted to say?"

"U-um no, actually, I think, well, I'm not positive, but I think I could, help maybe?"

"What do you mean?"

"My semblance," she explained. "Its illusions, but, not the way Neo does it. I'm not sure how to explain it but, I don't just do an appearance thing – I can – but it's like I put illusions _into_ a persons mind. I can make them see, hear, smell and _feel_ things, or, the opposite."

"And, you think that can help?"

Emerald nodded, surer of herself this time.

"I'm not sure about how I'd make you walk, but if I put an illusion on you I could I don't know, help with signals through the body. I mean, I think. I'll have to try it out."

Ruby stared wide-eyed at her.

"That's amazing! You can really do that?"

"I think so." She said. "It might take some practice to get it just right but-"

"Thank you!" Ruby cried, and in that single moment she could ignore the pain, that one second, to lean across and clasp Emeralds hands in her good one. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Emerald blushed a dark shade of red.

The moment past and Ruby winced, pulling back.

But as she did, she realised the lancing pain had become dull, and looked shocked once again when Emerald sent her a feeble grin.

Ruby smiled back in full. It was a start.

"Well then." Roman coughed, suddenly uncomfortable for reasons Ruby was unsure of. "You two should probably start on whatever that is. Neo, what are you gonna- watch them? Okay, fine." He shook his head. "Welp, there's stuff about the rest of us, so we should probably get to looking over our own cuts and bruises, not like I expect them to be much worse than that."

Neo was already being steered away from the table by Neo, as Emerald followed quickly behind, eager for some reason to be of help.

Her dad sent her a smile of his own that made her feel better.

"I'll get something for you to drink later, you girls should take the spare room on the right two doors down the hall. It's empty now, but I can probably get it fitted as a rehabilitation room or something if you'd like."

Ruby nodded.

She still felt tired.

Exhausted even.

But she felt better than before even if just a little.

"Thanks dad."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Cinder frowned. She'd been doing that a lot lately. It had replaced the constant sighing, but she was sure that if she didn't have Aura it might have aged her prematurely all the same.

As it was, she felt it was necessary, because after Torchwick had finished going over what his two-bit criminal associate had said about their wounds, he'd pulled her to the side to talk alone with her. _As it was_ , they were in the hallway while the others got about to doing things.

Even Mercury was being helpful and had gone into two with Taiyang to buy materials.

 _Mercury!_

"Well?" she prompted, eager to be away from the thief. They had a tentative alliance before, now, she wasn't sure what it was.

Torchwick was quiet for a moment, before he leaned back against the wall, and took out a new cigar. He didn't light it, just stared at it, as if inspecting it's creation.

"What's your deal?"

Again, a frown. "What?"

"You heard me." the thief grunted, but repeated it all the same. "I asked what your deal is. Why are you helping the kid?"

"You know what Torchwick. We were friends when I was-"

"Yeah, yeah I know how you met, explains a lot of things now that I think about it, like how you picked up two trays. A streetrat-pickpocket and a kid assassin down on his luck. Real charming, thought you could be some sorta messiah for them or something. Cute."

He stared hard at her. "No, I want to know why you're here now. So far all I've heard about this Salem thing is that they're some kind of bass and you joined up with them."

Cinder crossed her arms under her breast, shifting slightly. "I did."

"See, it bugs me, cause, you were supposedly one of the good guys, and sure you were trapped by the _bad guys_ but you said she gave you the choice to leave and you didn't. she dangled power in front of your face and you turned your back on the kid."

Cinder's eyes flashed, but she pushed down on her anger. "Ironic hearing assumptions of loyalty coming from you Roman, considering you did the same at Beacon right at the end just like me."

He scoffed. "Don't compare us Cindy. You and your buddies were tearing apart a city. Not only is that crazy, but it's pretty fucking different than deciding between joining some monster and staying with them."

She hissed. "What would you know about my choices Roman? How could you possibly understand?"

"Oh I understand alright. You got greedy and joined up with her because you wanted what she could-"

" _Do not_ -" A snarl flew from her lips. "Do not assume to understand at all. You have no _idea_ what it was like."

"Oh yeah?" he questioned. He received another snarl, as Cinder stepped closer to him, face to face, barely inches away.

" _Yes."_ She took a breath, all the time retaining the eye contact she held. "Let me explain something to you Roman. Salem is not _of humanity_. She is not Faunus, and she is not human. I'm not entirely sure she is even Grimm. But I do know this. Even through a screen, that seeker or whatever Grimm it was, I could feel it, and when I met her in person, it became all more clear:"

The look in Cinder's eye was almost reverent, enough to give Roman pause and listen.

"Do you know what a god is Roman? All the deities and beings that Humanity has worshipped for millennia, even the ones the might be real, I've never met. I met _Salem_ and let me explain to you Roman, if you were ever in her presence you would get down on your knees and bow."

"I'm not the type to-"

"It won't be a choice." She snapped. "Every fibre of your being, your very soul will order you to prostrate yourself, because that is what you do to creatures like her. To _things_ like her. Salem is a _God_. Maybe she came with the Grimm, maybe in the beginning she was just another one of the Dark god's creations, but when I witnessed her I knew what she was. So when she offered me a hand, a chance to serve her I took it because my soul _begged_ for it."

She was closer now, just to burn it into his mind.

"You think a maiden is powerful? Ozpin once possessed their power, all four of them. He had power and experience even before his most recent death that I'm sure could have matched them, coupled with the power he uses to live eternally, whatever it is, not to mention whatever else _he's done with it._ All of that, and he still could not defeat her. He failed. Every. Single. Time.

Cinder slumped back, letting out a breath.

"She has an endless host of Grimm at her command, and powers I likely know nothing of… I… I don't think we can beat her. I don't think that even if all of Humanity joined together that we could beat her. I think we squandered that chance aeons ago."

Roman looked away. He thought for a moment in silence, before turning back to her.

"If she's so powerful, why did you switch sides? Why did you save the kid?"

This time, it was Cinder's turn to look away, but by the time she did, Roman had already caught it.

The look of disgust on his face was apparent.

"You've got to be fucking with me." He whispered and shook his head. "You hurt her, burned her, mutilated her and you- you seriously feel _that_ way about her?"

"I-"

"Don't." he spat. "I don't trust you Cinder. After all I've seen from you I'll never trust you. I only care about three things in this shit world; Myself, Neo and the kid. The fact that you have these… _whatever you have,_ about her doesn't make me like you _or_ trust you… but I know right now I don't have a choice."

He shook his head again, walking away, but before he did fully, he paused and turned back to her.

"There's something wrong with you Cinder. Something deeply wrong."

* * *

…

…

* * *

It was a fortnight before Ruby was able to properly manipulate her legs again.

Not move, not stand, manipulate.

She could feel a tingle in her toes, yet she couldn't move them with consistent control.

She could however, move her legs.

Not the way they should be able.

Not like she used to.

They felt like thick, heavy trunks.

It was like they were there, but not actually _there_. Ruby wasn't sure how that made sense exactly, but it was the best she could do to describe it.

Either way, she still couldn't stand, not without aid.

Fortunately, Emerald had been there every day for the last two weeks, by her side and just in reach should Ruby ever need her.

Still…

"Okay, let's try this again."

Ruby nodded slowly, as if mentally preparing herself.

She glanced to the side, into the mirror.

Her Dad had been serious about fitting it as a rehabilitation room: there were tow metal railings in the centre, something she wasn't familiar with in name, to help people walk, or practice too, there was a window to the outside on one side, and an entire wall taken up by a mirror on another. The rest of the room was pretty much empty, other than a few weights set up in the corner. They, like the railings, were untouched.

Ruby just hadn't got to that point yet.

"So," Emerald said. "I've cast an illusion, how does it feel?

Ruby bit her lip and lifted her left hand. There was still the feeling that something wasn't right. It still hurt, but in lieu of throbbing, it felt as if Ruby could feel her blood flowing through her body, right underneath the skin.

Her skin felt tight, numb. She clenched, unclenched, clenched.

"Weird." She said. "but not as bad… let's try it."

Emerald reached out her hand, and with her good hand she took it gently. The younger girl winced. It stung, like running her hand across nettles.

But not unbearable. She let out a grunt as she got her feet out under her, as far away from the wheelchair as she could manage

And pushed.

She pushed and pushed as hard as she could.

Her grunting turned to groaning, and the occasional whimper or whine as she rose higher and higher.

All the while she held onto Emerald with one hand, and the other, hung limply by her side.

It was an effort.

It didn't take effort.

It _was_ effort.

Ruby's breathing grew laboured, and she felt her skin burn.

She wasn't sure if it was physical, or she was just angry.

Something as simple as standing, taking all she had,

"You know, it's strange." Emerald told her suddenly. "I didn't think I'd help you with this."

"W-what?" she murmured, half-listening as she forced herself to stand taller.

Emerald was trying to distract her, or at least take her mind off it and onto something else. She let her speak.

"When I first heard about you, it was from a conversation between Cinder and Watts... I heard that you were someone special, and I didn't see the big deal."

"Y-yeah?" she gasped.

She saw Emerald nod on the edge of her vision as she looked down.

"Yeah. I… I think I was jealous. All she had was a name, she hadn't even talked to you in however-long but you had Cinder's attention. I hadn't even met you and I hated you with everything I had." Ruby didn't respond. Whether it was because she chose not to, or didn't know how, Emerald continued.

"I grew up on the streets before Cinder found me. It was kind of pathetic. I mean, I'm two years older than you, but by the time she found me I was still older than you are now. Looking back, I should have made something of myself but…" she shrugged. "I guess I just didn't have an idea, a scope of what I could do. I was barely fed when she found me, actually, I think the day before she did I'd had the biggest meal I'd had all month. Some kid didn't want their leftovers in a restaurant. They dumped it out and I got first pick."

"I… don't know what to say."

The thief rolled her eyes. "Then wait until I finish. Listen, I didn't know a lot of people. My life was always on the streets. I never went to an orphanage, wouldn't have, the kids there never found parents that cared about them… anyway, I'm saying that all I remember is stealing to survive. In alleyways, in trash cans, in gutters. I don't remember my parents, but if they had me, they must have tossed me down the river the first chance they got I guess."

"Emerald I-"

"And then I met Cinder." Emerald interrupted. "She gave me a life, a chance. Sure it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. I'm not stupid or amoral. I know Cinder's down some horrible things, made some bad choices but it's still better than anything I could ever have dreamed of."

The Reaper swallowed. "Why… Why are you telling me this?"

"You haven't talked to her all this time. Every time you two come within a few feet of each other you look the other way. Every time she realises the two of you are in the same room she leaves. You're scared of her… aren't you?"

"I… I don't know. i…. I just…" she trailed off, but Emerald just nodded.

"I get it. Cinder did something to you that was just… it was evil. It's something you'd have nightmares about, and then the next thing you know you're begging her to help you _and she does_. I'm not going to blame you for being scared of her, hel, I see Cinder as… well she's special to me, but I'd understand if you hate her."

Emerald sighed. "She understands too. It's why she hasn't talked to you about it… I think Cinder's afraid too."

"I… I guess so." Ruby looked up, and despite herself, a small smile played at her lips. "You know… I don't mean this in a bad way, but I didn't think you'd be so… thoughtful."

Emerald snorted. "Someone has to be around her. Listen Ruby, everybody in this damn house has bugged the hel out of me all week. All that fake kindness and niceness. I mean, your dads the exception but mostly because he's hot-"

"Ew."

"And in case you couldn't tell I don't _do_ all that smiling stuff. It's weird, puts me off. Neo smiles nearly all the time and you know what she's like."

"Um…."

The other's have been all over you, right? Being kind and understanding…it's been bugging you too right?"

Ruby looked away, but she did eventually nod slowly."

Emerald smirked. "Thought so. Sometimes you don't want their sympathy… you just want them to get to the point or be brutally honest with you."

"And what about you?" Ruby challenged. "You said you didn't like me. Aren't you basically acting the same as the others now?"

She received an eye roll in response.

"I can't hate you because that would make me feel like crap. You're that pathetic it _has_ to be some kind of crime."

Despite herself, and the insult, a laugh escaped the younger girl. Emerald shot her a knowing look.

"That's what I thought. Listen, right now, you're a mess, if nobody else is going to say it, I will. But as weird as it is, as weird as you are, I like you. Cinder might still care a lot about you, maybe even more than me but hey, I think I can see why in a way too so it's not like I care. I don't know what it is, you're just fun to be around, even right now, acting like a depressed loser and all."

Ruby snorted, then giggled, and giggled some more, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably as she tried in vain to hold back her mirth.

Emerald was grinning now. "Yeah you heard me loser, you suck, I suck, just for different reasons. I was a starving orphan, and now I have to babysit a girl who's practically a cripple, you were on the run most of your life, and then got tortured and burned. We're both in a shitty situation am I right?"

Ruby couldn't help it. She laughed and laughed and laughed until she was out of breath, and then she laughed some more. Until her stomach hurt, until her cheeks ached she felt something wet against her face.

And then it died down, and she smiled.

"Thanks Emerald." She said. "I… I think I needed that."

Emerald smiled back, genuinely. "Yeah, just don't mention it." Her smile grew a little more. "By the way, we should probably sit you down now."

"Uh?"

As if a spell had been broken, Ruby's legs began to shake frantically, and Emerald caught her as she collapsed, setting her gently back into the wheelchair. She was breathing heavily, panting, and sweat poured from her face, and nearly every other part of her body. Her body ached, in a painful, but somehow satisfying way.

"Have you-" She paused, catching her breath. "Have you taken the illusion off yet?"

Emerald shook her head. "Not yet."

Ruby nodded to herself. "Can you… give me a few minutes before you do?"

"Sure."

The room was filled with nothing but Ruby's laboured breathing. Constant and strained, but satisfied somehow.

"You did alright." Emerald said suddenly. "Twenty minutes passed like nothing."

"Twenty?" Ruby echoed, surprise evident in her voice. "Huh…" she panted. "Felt…. Like a lot less."

"Well, it _is_ kind of a small amount of time. At least for something like standing I mean."

"Yeah," she agreed. "But it's a start."

"Hhm…It's a start."

"Are you two finished in there already?"

"Mercury," Emerald turned, scowling at the silver-haired teen as he poked his head through the door. "What do you want?"

"I'm _bored_."

"What are you a child?"

" _Noooooo~"_

"Ugh…"

"Come on." The teen groaned. "I got a movie we can watch. The news is _all_ that's on except for kids channels, and those are so mindnumbing I feel like it makes me dumber."

"They don't make them like they used to." Ruby agreed.

"Right!? Come on, it's supposed to be like, a pretty good action movie. Spruce Wills is in it."

"Oh! Wasn't he in Dye Hard?"

At that moment, Neo suddenly appeared from who-knows-where with a bucket of popcorn in her arms.

Nobody was going to ask where she'd gotten it.

"Fine." Emerald sighed. "We'll see how bad Merc's tastes are."

There was a cough from the door again, and the four of them turned to see Cinder, standing uncertainly in the doorframe.

"May… I have a word with Ruby?"

They criminals shared a look, but after a moment, realised there wasn't much they could say as to no, and filed out.

Not before Neo gave the Maiden a warning look of course.

"That woman." Cinder Muttered. "I'm so much stronger than her and yet she still finds some way to scare me."

"I think that's just Neo being Neo."

Cinder swallowed, and turned to Ruby.

The younger girl looked back, nervousness playing on her features, even as she forced them down.

"Ruby," Cinder tired. "I-"

"Don't." only for the girl to stop her.

Cinder looked agonised.

Ruby closed her eyes and sighed. "I… I don't know exactly what you're going to say, but if it's to apologise then… then don't. you made the right choice in the end and that's… that's all that matters."

Cinder looked away, and nodded.

It was an avoidance. They both knew it. Sooner or later, they would have to speak to each other. Not just about what had been down, but what they would do, and what they wanted.

They both knew it would be a long, dangerous topic, and that it would hurt.

But for now, they had decided it would wait. For later.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Ruby shrugged, wincing at the pain in her shoulders. With Emerald gone, so was the illusion.

Damn, it hurt.

"Let's… just go watch a movie."

"Alright."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Cinder… I… I kinda need you to push me."

"R-right!"

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **There we go, the start of something big.**

 **Personally I'm excited about this Arc and what I've got planned.**

 **All the characters I've wanted together will be after all this time. Ruby and her merry band of law-breakers are just the first example of this.**

 **I've got a lot to show, character to build up, characters to destroy and all of that good stuff!**

 **For now though, I'd like to know what you think might happen in future chapters. They'll just be guesses obviously, but if you're close, I'll let you know.**

 **I'd also like to say that regarding this chapter and certain points -for authenticity sake - I did so research on both burn types and depression, as well as other mental afflictions.**

 **On the burns, I'd warn you that if you go fact checking what they might look like, do so at your own risk. I'm not one to get queasy at guts and gore, but even then I can say burns 3rd degree and beyond are truly horrific to look at... so... just be warned.**

 **Secondly, on Depression. I did my research as best I could, though I know it is a sensitive topic and one that shouldn't just be thrown around to make a character feel deep or tragic. I hate that in stories. if things like that are added, they should be done so will proper care and understanding of how it works. that being said, I'd like to ask that if any of you know more about this, ideally not through experience, then I'd appreciate it if you would discuss it with me, so I can paint an accurate portrayal of it.**

 **With that said, if you haven't already be sure to follow, Favourite and Review.**

 **Hopefully these next few chapters will give you all an insight on how big things have gotten.**

 **Until then!**


	40. White: Part 2

Weiss stared at her reflection in the mirror.

She was alone in her room, in her cold, impersonal, unwelcoming room. She was back in Atlas.

She stared at her reflection.

She hadn't known at first. The last thing she remembered was being… carried by a White Fang member, by Ilia. When she woke up, she'd been in a hospital, safe and sound.

She'd asked or ruby. She'd asked for her team.

The doctors had informed her they knew nothing of a team RWBY…

And then her father had come in.

She looked into the mirror, at herself, and stared.

She was looking at the injury she'd sustained. The thing that reminded her above all else that it hadn't been a nightmare. That beacon really had fallen.

A long, jagged scar from her shoulder blade, arcing over her shoulder and to the top of her right breast.

Her father had been quick to point it out. To remark on its unsightliness and how it was her own fault, for choosing to disregard the family and play at being a huntress instead.

The doctors had been too afraid to contradict him.

In a way. She agreed with him.

She had been weak. She had been a target. She'd been nothing but a damsel in distress.

Weiss was bare above the waist, staring into the mirror and the horrible, grey-ish scar that marred her body.

It was unsightly, and to Weiss, a token of her failure.

Friends had died, because she'd been too weak to do anything about it.

She took a breath. No. she refused now, as she had the moment her father had ordered her to go back to being the good little heiress he wanted.

She had refused, and instead, begged for him to do one thing for her and miraculously…

He had accepted.

There was a knock at her door, and after quickly putting something on to retain her modesty - _ **hide the scar**_ -she called out.

"Come in." the door opened just a fraction as a man poked through, a worried look on his face.

"They are ready for you Miss Schnee." Klein informed her. "I… I have been instructed to lead you to them for the procedure."

She nodded. "Thank you Klein. Lead the way then."

He hesitated, before nodding. The Heiress followed after him as he made his way down the hallway. It was strange for her in a way, being back in the Schnee manor.

She was careful not to refer to it as home.

It wasn't her home.

Beacon was her home, and it was gone.

Its halls had been familiar, its rooms welcoming, and even the faces of students he did not know had become a sight she had prised.

It was gone now.

After a while of walking down obnoxiously long halls, Weiss sighed. "What is it Klein?"

"Ma'am?"

"You've been fidgeting all the while." She informed him. "Is there something wrong? Something bothering you?"

"I…" he hesitated. "It isn't my place to say Miss Schnee."

"I'd like you to say it anyway."

Again, he hesitated. And then:

"Are… are you sure this is something you should do? I realise I am no exercise, but this… program, was banned for a reason. I'm not entirely sure _why_ you want to do it, but surely there are other ways."

"There might be." Weiss agreed. "but I will not cower from this just because of the risks. I've made my decision, and I intend to carry it through."

"…"

"As you say Miss Schnee."

Klein was silent for the rest of the small journey. In some ways Weiss could understand. He was only worried about her, as he always did. As he had for a very long time.

But this was her choice.

Suddenly they stopped at a secured metal door.

Weiss remembered it well. This is where she had fought the Arma Gigas. It had been a massive room, nearly the size one would use for balls and the like.

It was also far enough away from the Manor that it was considered its own complex.

The doors opened, and Weiss walked into what was essentially an observation deck, with a sealed, glass dust-proof window. Her father was already there, looking down through the window with a thoughtful look on his face.

It was dark, brooding even.

He was taking this as seriously as she had never expected him too.

Next to him was the SDC secretary. Her job consisted of more than just that, but her father had never thought to promote her, and for some reason, she never thought to broach the subject.

She was a hawkish, viscous looking woman who wore glasses that hid her conniving looking eyes.

Weiss was sure her father had hired for that more than anything else. Her appearance, as well as her personality, meant that she agreed with anything he did, no matter how underhanded or morally bankrupt it was.

Weiss didn't very much like her, and she was certain the feeling was returned.

All the same, there was a plastic sort of false politeness to her, that was brought to the surface when the woman noticed the heiress.

"miss Schnee." She nodded. "Very good, the scientists are just finishing the last of their safety checks, and then we may begin."

"Good." Weiss nodded. "the sooner the better."

As she said it, she couldn't help to glance at her father, to see what he was thinking, what he felt as to all of this.

Her father said nothing. He was turned away from her, still, looking down at the men below.

Weiss steeled herself, and stood beside him, following his gaze. Still he said nothing.

The room had changed since the last time she'd seen it. Though by her request it was to be expected.

Whereas before it had been a cold, open, empty room fit for combat, it was now more enclosed, focused on one point.

Men and women wearing lab coats hurried around in the dozens, carrying all sorts of contraptions and tools Weiss wasn't familiar with, and yet was so sure would be used for this occasion and this occasion only.

They Schnee snowflake was imprinted on each and every one of their backs.

They were Schnee scientists and doctors. Each and every one of them some of the greatest in their fields thanks to their massive paycheques

Around them was medical equipment and computers spilling out complicated numbers and information she couldn't read for where she was, though she was sure she likely wouldn't understand it even if she could.

And in the centre, the focus of attention.

Was an operating table.

Suddenly, a door at the other side of the room opened up, and a man wearing a coat and facemask walked in. he saw them, and genuinely bowed.

It was a big occasion she supposed, probably the only chance he would have to do this procedure.

"President Schnee sir. We are ready for your daughter. If she would follow me we can begin."

He nodded once, and turned to her.

Weiss was taken aback by how… dark his eyes were.

He had been thinking on this subject, and it had clearly affected him gravely.

For whatever reason.

"This is your last chance to change your mind Weiss." He told her. "Are you sure?"

"…Yes."

She held her father's gaze as he stared into her, measuring her.

Whatever he saw, she wasn't sure he was satisfied, but it was apparently enough for him to him, and gesture to the head scientist.

"Go on then."

She did so, following the man as he lead her down a flight of stairs.

It took a few minutes, but afterwards, with a patients gown all she had to cloth her, Weiss was lead to the operating table, where she lay down.

There was a tittering all around her.

Over forty scientist and doctors at the top of their profession, all excited about this one moment.

"Now then," the man said. "Do you need me to go over what this procedure is about Miss Schnee?"

"That would be rather pointless, considering I requested it." She responded flatly.

The scientist flinched at the answer. Clearly he wasn't used to such a tone used on him. "A-ah! I see, well then that is good."

Weiss ignore him, staring straight up at the lights overhead.

There would be no turning back now. She knew what this was about, she had made her choice.

Dust infusion. That was what that man, Hazel had done at Beacon. Simple lightning dust was all he had needed to empower himself to levels none of her classmates had been capable of handling and systematically decimated them.

That man had used dust in a way she never thought possible. No, that was untrue. she had known such methods had existed. She had just not been aware that anyone still practised them. She recalled bits of a conversation she'd had with Ruby, a while ago, about such people existing during the war as an experimental supersoldier program.

It had failed, because the method had been wrong.

She had seen a more practical solution in that man, and even now it filled her with cold fury.

She had thought herself a master of dust, as a Schnee, as a Huntress and as a fighter and yet she had been so outclassed by him, so comically so that it had been over in an instant.

All because he had gone to length s she had been too much of a coward to reach for.

Wiess used its powdered forms, both as ammunition and in tandem with her semblance. Once or twice, she had even activated raw crystals as used them as a sort of makeshift bomb.

 _He_ had injected them into his body, and beaten her.

She knew what she had to do. It was the only way.

Her friends had died because she had been unwilling to risk herself truly.

Hazel hand injected Dust into his body.

So she would go beyond that.

By implanting dust nodes _within_ her body

Dust nodes; what the very substance grew from.

Without it, Dust would have run dry a long time ago, with how much humanity relied on it.

As it was, Dust grew, as if like a plant, or rapidly growing stalagmite. Miners would usually mine around the nodes, letting the things continuously produce dust crystals to mine. A renewable, almost infinite energy source.

However, the nodes themselves could be harvested, if done carefully.

All the other experiments in the past had used powdered Dust, or crystals, the incomplete, shards of such nodes.

This would be the first attempt at using nodes themselves.

And for whatever reason, when Weiss had begged her father for this, to carry out this dangerous procedure, he had agreed.

"Now then." The scientist said as four others wheeled out a large metal container. It looked like some kind of freezer with handles running down it.

The head scientist grasped one and pulled. With a hiss it came out, and with it, a bright red crystal.

A fire Dust node. Inactive at the moment, as it had not contacted anyone's Aura, or other catalysts, but along the edges, Weiss could see it growing. Agonizingly slow. Micromillimeter by Micromillimeter.

"We have all the dust we believe would be compatible with the human body: Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, Ice, Steam, Earth, Magma, Energy and Gravity."

Ten separate dust types. Every known dust variation the SDC harvested.

"So," he asked. "Which one will you be choosing?"

"All of them."

"Alright, the procedure will be simple, creating incisions in the body to implant the node and letting your Aura heal up the wounds, we just need to-" the man stopped, blinking wildly for a moment before looking down at her. "A-all of them?"

"Yes." Weiss said. "That is what I specified in the order I gave."

"M-my apologies Miss Schnee, but I had thought you had meant to give yourself an option of choosing." The Scientist sweated nervously. "One is a dangerous procedure on its own, two perhaps the limit but ten?"

"Are you incapable of doing it?"

"I-It's not a question about whether or not it can be done; it can but you simply won't be able to survive the pain the operation will inflict on your body."

"Is it permanent?"

"Not pain-wise no but-"

"Then proceed with the task."

"Miss Schnee-"

" _I am prepared!"_ Weiss snapped, making the man, as well as several others around her jump. "We will continue with the implementation of all ten _doctor_."

This was how she would become stronger. Hazel had used one kind of Dust, maybe he could use two or three even, but all ten? This would give her the edge. She _would_ be strong enough.

"I… of course Miss Schnee, we will prepare the necessary paraphernalia right away.

At once, the doctors shouted orders to one another, and raised metal, almost cybernetic gas masks to their faces. It made sense she supposed; Dust was volatile. They had to make sure they didn't accidentally trigger it.

A woman raised a recording device next to her face. This wasn't just a medical procedure after all;

It was a scientific advancement.

"Subject is being given minor grade anaesthesia in order to retain awareness for safety reasons."

Something tightened around her limbs.

"Restraints are being applied to the subject in order to reduce frantic movement."

Weiss closed her eyes and took a breath. She was fine, she had to be. No matter how bad it got she had to focus. There would be no going back now.

She briefly wondered if her father was still watching. She wondered if he was worried, if he cared.

And then the men and women surrounded her with scalpels. She winced at the sudden sensation of needles sinking into her arms, and then suddenly, her entire body felt… itchy.

And then she felt it; the cutting. It felt like nails being dragged across her skin as they made incisions in her chest.

The nodes needed to be in the centre of her body, in that alone, it would mean they would be cutting it close.

…

Weiss withheld a sigh. She was missing Yang already.

It was a strange experience, even past the feeling. To be conscious while men and women opened her up was something Weiss hadn't thought she would ever live through.

"Implanting first node now. Commencing."

Wiess' eyes followed the red crystal as far as she could, until it was pressed into her skin and inside and-

 _There was pain_.

Weiss cried out as her whole body shook.

What was this?

 **What was this?!**

It hurt it hurt it hurt! How could it hurt this much?! It felt like her body was burning up.

"Inserting second dust type."

And then that pain doubled.

And tripled

And quadrupled.

More and more, until a scream ripped out of her throat, only to be torn away as the air abandoned her lungs.

Her body spasmed against the restraints and the fifth, the sixth, the seventh dust nodes were pushed deep inside.

The grew, ripped, burst, popped, shattered.

She felt them, every single fibre of her being could feel the dust as it dug into her flesh.

Into her muscles

Encasing and wrapping around her bones.

Knives.

It felt like thousands of knives were skinning her, layer by layer, down to her core

And while Wiess suffered, the doctors worked calmly, observing her reaction.

"Proceed with the eighth."

Weiss screamed as something in her chest convulsed. She was bleeding. She felt like she was bleeding.

From the inside out, all over and yet she wasn't.

The sensations were faked, created by her traitorous mind to tear her part. To break her sanity.

The burning flames.

The freezing ice.

The roaring wind.

The arcing lightning.

The suffocating earth.

The boiling steam.

The drowning water.

The melting magma.

The overpowering energy.

The… the…

"Wait, somethings wrong. Something-"

Weiss opened her eyes.

And all of those feelings vanished.

Along with the room.

She blinked, confused.

The…. There was nothing above her except a pitch black void.

A second later she realised there was nothing under her either.

There were no restraints holding her down, no table to lay on and yet…

Everything felt solid.

The heiress stood up, her feet connected to… Something. There was no floor and yet she could feel a cool, flat surface beneath her. Weiss looked around, completely at a loss.

To her left, darkness, to her right, darkness, she was in a void, nothingness.

And then she looked down, blinking.

She… she was in her combat outfit, the one she'd worn at Beacon. She checked her shoulder. No, her jacket was untouched, undamaged from where the knife should have cut through.

What… was going on?"

" _Hey._ "

Weiss jumped out of her skin, spinning around frantically for the source of the voice.

What was that?

It had been a girls' voice, small and whispered.

What was going on?

" _Hey, over here, this way!"_

It was clearer now, slightly louder and Weiss spun to suddenly freeze at the sight before her.

A mirror.

It… it was a mirror.

"What the…" she murmured, taking a step forward as she inspected it.

The mirror was full-sized, big enough that she could see her whole body.

It was encased in silver edges. Beautiful engraving with a craftsmanship she had never seen before.

The mirror wasn't leaning on anything… how was it even here? Where even _was_ here?

" _Hey, over here!_ " The voice whispered again. It... was coming from the mirror. _"Come on, you're close, just a little bit further!"_

Weiss stepped closer and suddenly could see her reflection.

Or… she couldn't?

It… it was her. The person in the mirror was her but... it wasn't.

Her clothes were different. The design, the style was the same, and yet the colours were wrong. Instead of white, they were black, the darkest black Weiss could think of, almost like they stole light from…. Well, there wasn't any light in this void,

And yet she could still see, still perceive, and she knew that light was being taken from somewhere.

Where?

There was something else that was different.

It was her scar.

It was… it was on the wrong side.

It wasn't the mirror simply reflecting it, no it… the reflection wore her scar on the right side of its face and-

It was looking at her.

It… the reflection was looking at her.

"Don't be ridiculous." She hissed to herself. It was just a reflection, of course it wasn't was looking at her!

No… this was different. This _felt_ different. It was following her eyes, somehow, it was looking at her.

What was this mirror? What was it doing?

She reached out, curious, and like a reflection should, it did the same and yet somehow it did it wrong at the same time.

As she reached out with her right arm it… did the same. Not like a mirror should. It should connect with her, not pass her like a person.

"What are you?" she whispered, reaching out, closer, closer.

Her fingers skimmed the icy feeling glass, just a hairs breath away-

Freezing finger wrapped around her wrist, dragging her closer.

The Reflection leaned in and grinned. Its smile was too big for her face, cutting it, stretching it, bleeding it.

It leaned _out_ of the mirror.

And it spoke.

In her voice.

" _Oh you silly little girl, I'm you, can't you tell?"_

Weiss screamed.

And opened her eyes.

The heiress choked on dust, as light poured into her eyes. She coughed and spluttered, dizzy from something. She was on her knees for some reason.

Had… had that been… a dream?

It was cold, she felt cold.

What was that sound? It was blaring, constant. It sounded like… alarms?

And then she could hear clearly, and all of a sudden the world came crashing in around her.

Weiss' eyes widened as fire crackled around her, as rubble smashed to the ground and people screamed in pain.

What was going on? _What was going on?!"_

She looked around, realising she was in some sort of crater. Hadn't she been on the operating table?

A thought came to her and she patted her chest.

She could feel it, the sensation of something within her, of Aura healing those small precise cuts.

It…. It had worked?

Then why was she so lost as to where she was?

That didn't make sense, and now she could feel something wet around her legs.

Weiss felt her blood freeze.

Blood.

She was in a puddle of blood.

And it wasn't hers.

Oh god. Weiss could see them now, through the dust and smoke and haze.

Bodies, hurled around the place.

It was the doctors.

Weiss could see a man with his face twisted in abject horror as his intestines laced the ground. Whoever he had seen before his death had terrified him.

Another, had a hole in her chest, punched the entire way through and leaking organs and blood. Her bones protruded from her body, splintered and shattered like glass and-

Weiss choked, she saw a man impaled on a spear of ice.

It had erupted from the grounds, and in turn, erupted from his back. His blood tinted the crystallised element red. His body was warped, frozen and iced in such a horrific way, brutalised almost beyond recognition it made her want to throw up.

Had- had she-

A shadow appeared above her, and Weiss raised her head in time to see the butt of a rifle slam down on her face.

And she knew no more.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The next thing Weiss knew, she was on a bed.

It was soft, warm, and almost comforting enough to stop her from bolting upright as she realised what her last moments awake had entailed.

As it was, the heiress hyperventilated as her face broke out in a cold sweat.

What had- had that just happened?

Her eyes flickered around wildly. She was in a room, but it was not her own. It was bare, clinical, empty in a way hers hadn't been.

There was a sudden beep and she turned to see a camera pointed directly at her from the corner of the room.

"Wha-"

The door to her right hissed and clicked, startling her.

The hissing didn't stop, and it sounded like heavy metal mechanical locks were shifting on the other side.

After a minute, it opened up, and General Ironwood walked in.

His face was grave.

"Miss Schnee." He nodded. "It's… good to see you well, especially after such an unfortunate situation.

There was a pause, and Weiss felt this… energy. Something was wrong. Where was she? What was going on? She'd been covered in blood just moments ago, or was it days? There was something going on. There was an energy in the air, something between them that rose the hairs on her neck. It was a warning to run, to escape while she could.

She ignored it.

Weiss swallowed. "What… what happened. I… I don't remember anything."

Ironwood changed before her in an instant, gone was the calm and understanding headmaster she knew, in his place was a military leader. Dangerous and calculating. Cold. Robotic. His eyes locked on hers and he stepped closer, drawing himself to his full height. It was more than a little intimidating.

"Are you sure?" he pressed. "Are you sure that you don't remember anything? Nothing at all?"

"I…" she hesitated. "I remember opening my eyes and… and the building was suddenly gone. And then someone knocked me out." She looked up. "What happened? Was I attacked?"

"…No." the general said. He had a thoughtful look on his face before he let out a long sigh. "You really don't remember anything… that is… I'm not sure if that's comforting or troubling." He turned to her. "Miss Schnee... I am sorry to say that there was an incident during the procedure."

Weiss looked down. There was an accusation in his voice. She knew why.

Her father hadn't contacted the general about it. It had been a private thing, hastily put together by her request and unsanctioned. And therefore technically illegal.

If he had been there it might have been different.

"From records it seems that after the tenth Dust node was implanted into your body it caused a reaction. A dangerous one. The initial… eruption, of Dust harmed a number of individuals but did not kill them… then you stood up and… and slaughtered them.

Weiss' stomach dropped. "I… I did _what?!_

"All forty doctors were killed by your hands, as well as twelve security personnel before you were stopped." He explained to her, in a mechanical voice. She could see it in his eyes though. He didn't trust her, and even now he was wary, ready to kill her If she made any sudden movements.

It scared her.

"Your father and his employees managed to escape with minimal injuries, but have refused to see you afterwards."

He gestured around him. He almost… looked regretful. "It was a disaster, but I was able to rescind the charges of murder on one condition."

A cold feeling settled in her chest. "And that is?"

"That you are to be under constant twenty-four-hour surveillance, kept here in this tower."

"T-tower?"

"Meridian Tower." he said.

She knew what it was well: a tower build during the Great War in order to hold the most dangerous of war criminals. None who had been imprisoned in it had ever left, even after the war, deemed too dangerous. A tower that pierced the clouds, taller than any tower, and located in the most barren, frozen part of Atlas, far away from civilisation.

And now she was a prisoner in it.

"I-I-" her voice cracked. She could get out the words, the protests, the cries and the pleading for him to _please_ not lock her up here. She couldn't, only one word came to mind. "How?"

How had this happened to her? How had implanting dust led her to kill over fifty people? No, she'd done more damage than that, things he wasn't telling her. Meridian tower was for the most dangerous of people, if she was here she had to have done more.

She didn't want to know. She didn't want to know what could be worse than so much murder.

All the same, he understood her question. "There was a mistake." He said. "It seems that when the Dust was collected for use there was a mistake. There is a… Dust, that was discovered as recent as earlier this year. Ozpin and I discussed it but it was to be kept under wraps. It has been dubbed Black Dust for its appearance. It can grow and taint other forms of dust and… induces madness in people who come in contact with it. We thought we had it contained but it seems the SDC was able to acquire some accidentally."

"And I, came in contact with it?"

He looked at her sadly. "You did. You still are."

Weiss' mouth went dry. It had been implanted in her. This madness Dust had been implanted in her body by mistake!

"The process is irreversible." Ironwood said. It was a strike to her chest. She knew the operation had been. She had been prepared for it. She hadn't been prepared for _this._ "We can't extract the Dust from your body without killing you but we cannot risk it happening again, and there are some that do suspect it _will_ happen against due to your exposure.

"Who… who knows about it?"

"Myself, your father, the other members of the council and my head scientist." He answered truthfully. "Other than that, no one. The information has been classified. Only those at the highest level are aware."

Weiss was shaking. She could feel herself shaking and she couldn't control it. "So I'm supposed to be locked up here, never to leave? Is that what you're telling me?"

His silence was all she needed.

She got out of bed, unsure of what she really wanted to do and ended up staring out a window.

Although calling it a window was more of a joke than she could ever have imagined.

The glass was tinted black, and at least fifty centimetres thick, with steel bars crisscrossing on both the inside and outside. And there was a faint shimmer. Dust was being used as an additional barrier.

It was there, to let her see the outside world, as if some kind of cruel torture.

All she could see was white wastelands anyway.

"I…" Ironwood trailed off. "I will send someone to see you momentarily. They… might be able to help"

Weiss didn't answer. And he sighed.

"I am sorry Miss Schnee, but this was all I could do."

She heard the door close a second later, it shuttered and hissed.

She really was trapped in here, wasn't she?

That realisation was all she needed to think of her team. Ruby, Blake, Yang. She didn't know where they were, what they were doing or even what had happened to them. But she would never see them again.

And for that, she felt her heart break.

* * *

…

…

* * *

It must have been an hour before anything happened. Weiss had finished crying, if only because she couldn't cry anymore when the door opened up.

Weiss' eyes widened as she was greeted with the sight of someone who shouldn't be alive, much less standing before her and smiling.

"P-Penny?"

She looked different. Much different:

She was taller than before by a good few inches, her hair had grown longer in such a short amount of time, just past her shoulders. She… somehow looked older, like an adult rather than a girl and she was dressed with far more efficiently in mind than before, like she was prepared for combat at any moment.

But her face, her smile was the same.

"Oh my god Penny!" she cried, wrapping the girl in a desperate embrace. "You're here, I can't believe you're here. I thought I'd never see- I mean I saw- I thought you were dead!"

"Oh, salutations Miss Schnee… it seems you know of me already. That is good."

She stilled, stepping back to stare at Penny. When she realised there was no familiarity in her eyes.

There was no soul.

"I-" she choked. "We were at beacon together, you… I saw you die."

"Ah!" the not-penny blinked. "You must be speaking of my previous model. That was P.E.N.N.Y. I am P.E.N.N.Y.2.0. The much newer model. You must have been acquainted with that form. My apologise Miss Schnee, but such information was deemed unnecessary to download to my memory banks."

The not-Penny smiled, and it made Weiss ill. "Not to worry though Miss Schnee, I have been designated as your caretaker. That means we will get to spend so much time together! I will deliver your food, keep you company, and monitor your situation."

"Monitor my… situation?"

"Correct." The machine, for Weiss knew now, could _see_ now, that this thing in front of her was just that, machine, it meant Penny had been a machine still smiling said "I have been tasked to contain you if you should act as you did previously when you killed those people, and if unable, eliminate you."

That smile was fake

That kindness was fake

That face was fake

 _That person was fake_.

"Get out."

"Pardon?"

"Get out!" Weiss screamed. "Getoutgetoutgetout!"

"You appear to be suffering some sort of emotional stress. Is there anything I can-"

"GET OUT!"

"Very well," the machine nodded. "Please call me if you need anything, I will be monitoring you through the security system."

Weiss screamed.

She screamed and screamed and screamed and when that fake Penny left she screamed some more.

She clutched and pulled at her hair and screamed.

She writhed and shook and screamed.

She cried and sobbed as she screamed.

Weiss didn't want to be here. She was trapped.

She wanted to go home and see her sister.

She wanted to go back to Beacon and see her team.

She wanted to go back to see Ruby.

And she knew she'd never see any of them again.

She'd never see _her_ again.

She screamed.

* * *

...

…

* * *

 **So Weiss is going through some things... yeah, fun times for her.**

 **But hey! Penny's back... even if she doesn't have any of her memories and was built to kill Weiss if she goes crazy but hey, details aren't important.**

 **Also some Dust. I'd mentioned Black Dust a while back, so we'll be getting into _what_ that is exactly very soon.**

 **It's not good though, believe me, and If the carnage is anything for your imagination, the situation will be a bad one.**

 **I don't want to say much, if only because I'll save it for the end of this little prologue. two more coming up, and they should be good.**

 **Although if you want tot tell me what you think about Weiss' problem feel free, or if you have any deal where it might go, I'd like to hear it.**

 **Until then, Be sure to follow, favourite and Review.**

 **Have a good weekend!**


	41. Black: Part 2

**Okay, so before this chapter starts I feel like I need to address a few issues people have brought up with the recent chapters.**

 **There've been a few reviews, but most have come in the form of PM which is... I don't know why they want to hid it if they have genuine complains, I'd listen to them either way.**

 **But, this is about how this story is now 'Grimdark'**

 **when I first saw someone use it I just stared for a minute and thought 'huh? You think _this_ is Grimdark?'**

 **well apparently a lot of people did.**

 **I'll be honest and say that I wasn't aware people would think of the last few chapters as that, but it was a surprise all the same. To me, it's not, but if people feel that way I know I'll have to look into it.**

 **And I did. You guys for a part seem pretty upset about it. So really I had two options, ignore it or address it here. Hopefully none of this comes off as me be contrary or ignorant to what you've been saying but I'll give this a go and explain myself as best I can despite that risk I guess.**

 **First off, as I've said, I didn't think this would be seen as Grimdark. to me, this is on the mild spectrum of dark so far, to me none of it's been that bad. maybe that's just because of personal experiences both in what I read, and watch as well as real life experiences but it didn't really register that people would be horrified by this.**

 **maybe shocked a bit, but that was about it.**

 **I'm not going to 'censor' Anything, though maybe that's too hard a word to use. If you don't want to read this story because of that I completely understand of course.**

 **That being said, I'd also like to assure the people who've said they're worried about this story getting 'even darker'. I don't _plan_ on making it darker, at least not intentionally so that's something, but even then, guys.**

 **the darkness has been going on for pretty much only three chapters.**

 **it's the fall of Beacon after a terrorist attack, in a world full of evil shadow monsters attracted by fear, despair and hatred.**

 **It _should_ be dark.**

 **But just so you don't have to worry, you should know it's just the Black moment. it's the part of the sorry where it's at its worst. there might be more of these moments, but they'll be well spread out. I'm not writing this just to torture the characters. I wouldn't spend over a year on this story I that was the case.**

 **I have a rule in cases like this; all the bad stuff that happens to a character, has to eventually be evened out by an equivalent amount of good stuff and vice versa.**

 **So.. if you're looking for fluff, chill and happy moments you get them _eventually_ , when it suits the story.**

 **I don't have much else to say, hopefully I haven't insulted or annoyed many people with this, but I do worry when a number of people all have a problem with it. I want to fix it in most cases but with this one? Well I can't, people just have a different threshold with what they can tolerate.**

 **So if you're okay with this, I guess we should get into the chapter.**

 **One last thing.**

 **It's here early so I can start working on the next one right away, and _that one_ is coming this weekend as a precaution. personal stuff means I don't know if I'll be able to write next week even though I still will try to.**

 **So you get two chapter this week instead of one as a sort of apology for it.**

 **...**

* * *

Storms.

Blake didn't like storms. They blotted out the sky, shrouding it in darkness. They brought torrential rain that battered down everything they touched. They brought thunder that deafened the Faunus at the best of times and shook her core at their worst.

Storms at seas she found, were far worse.

"Brace!" The captain roared, and Blake did so just in time as a wave crashed into the side of the ship, rocking it dangerously.

The Faunus felt her legs shake as she held herself up. She was tired, exhausted even. The storm had started two days ago and hadn't let up since. In fact it had just gotten worse; with gale force winds, rain so heavy she could barely see in front of her and waves so high they threatened to capsize the ship altogether.

The captain pushed on regardless, unwilling or perhaps unable to urn back at this point. And so Blake was left to hole herself up in one of the Cabins. Except with the constant rocking, she'd emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor, and the smell and been putrid, forcing her onto the deck.

There hadn't been much better. But at least.

"Let me help!" she called up to the Captain above. He was an old man, with hair white as snow and beard to match it. "Fine." He barked. "We lost power to the engines and had to unfurl the mast, get over there and tie it down with the crew!" she nodded and ran down the port side of the ship. She didn't have to go far before she heard the struggled and pained grunts of men and women, and the next she saw them, tugging and pulling at thick, heavy rope.

She ran to them and grabbed on. They gave her room without so much as a question, too busy with trying to keep the ship moving in this weather to care. The woman in front of her was the first mate. She had short brown hair, eyes and skin and a fierce scowl on her face as she held onto the rope tight. Another wave hit the side of the ship, the other crew members lost their grip and the first mate was suddenly dragged forward.

The mast groaned as the first Mate cried out in alarm as she realised what was about to happen. The rope was taut and stretched in too many places, it was about to yank her off her feet from the stain and she'd be through from the ship and to a watery grave.

Blake grabbed hold of the rope before that could happen. The mast protested as the storm rocked it. The Faunus stumbled a few steps before finding her feet and planting them for all she was worth. Her strength as a Huntress was the only thing that kept her standing and even then it was a near thing. Her arms and legs screamed out in agony and her teeth clenched so hard she was afraid they would break.

The First mate was fine though, she managed to catch herself and the next moment she was grasping the rope again.

More hands reached for it as the other crew members scrambled to their feet, and on the other side of the ship the same yells and groans could be heard as the rest of the crew she couldn't see did the same.

"Keep it steady!" the First mate bellowed.

Blake growled. She had thought that was obvious; they needed to keep the sail facing the way it was to get them out of the storm. If it moved any further to the right or left they'd capsize, if they stayed in one place they'd capsize, if they moved too fast they'd capsize, did this woman really think she needed to be told!

She caught herself a second later. No, that wasn't her thoughts. Those were the monsters residing in her. Fortunately, the sound that escaped her throat had been lost to the storm, and Blake continued to pull with everything she had, trying to keep it steady. Rope burned her hands and rain pelted her back. Her hair was soaked, getting in her eyes and her ears were clogged with water. The sea salt was overwhelming and the rocking made her sick.

But she held on for all she was worth. To do anything less was to let the ship sink to the bottom of the sea.

Another wave crashed into the ship, shaking her to her core. There was a cry however when the ship failed to right itself a moment later, and seawater flooded the deck for a moment. The First Mate gasped. "the mainsail!" she cried.

Blake looked up and followed her terrified gaze.

The one she assumed was the mainsail had a tear in it. The wind, or that wave must have been too much for it to hold. Without it they wouldn't be able to move forward. They'd die. "We need to do something!"

"I can." Blake responded, already moving."

The First mate cried out in surprise at the sudden extra force with which the rope pulled her forward. She couldn't reach out and stop Blake as she leapt up, grabbing onto the ratlines and climbing as fast as she could. The wind chose that moment to get stronger, and Blake grit her teeth as it threatened to throw her off the ship.

The Faunus forced herself on, higher and higher as the cyclone raged around her. Higher, higher until she was eye level with the tear. She reached for gambol shroud and fired the blade forward. It shot across the shot, wrapping around and digging into the other side of the beam.

"Here goes nothing." She muttered, holding up the cleaver.

She stabbed at the sail as cleanly as she cloud, forcing the blade through. She did it again from the other side. Then again, and again. Repeating it over and over like some bastardised sowing technique. The ribbon struck taunt and pulled the two halves of the sail together. As fast as she could, she tight it to the ratlines. There was a cheer from down below as the ship managed to right itself. It had wor-

Blake gasped as a blast of wind hit her head on. She lost her grip and was knocked free of the shroud. She was going to fall. She was going to fall into the sea and drown.

Her body moved. More specifically, her left side moved without her permission, snapping out and clutching the rope, dragging her back before she could crash down below.

She fell against the ropes a second later, shaking and panting as she held on for dear life.

Her left side moved on its own, gripping a horizontal piece of rope as her left foot pressed against it. Sit lowered her down the rope and onto the deck once again as her sense suddenly came back to her as she stumbled.

"We're not done yet." The First mate yelled over the storm, standing her up. "Keep holding on!"

She did so without a word, trying to catch her breath.

Blake wasn't sure how long she held on, how long she gripped the rope and ignored the burns, how long she grit her teeth, how long she was drenched, how long the storm raged. It was all lost in a blur as she did her best to keep the ship together with the rest of the crew.

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, but suddenly Blake heard the ships horn sound and gasped as she looked ahead. There was a break in the clouds, sunlight. The storm was letting up!

The men and women cheered as the rain lessened, and the wind weakened.

And then all at once, almost miraculously, they had escaped the storm and were on calm seas once again.

Blake gasped, and fell back. She sat on the ground, back against the wall and uncaring of the soaking wood below. All she wanted to do was catch her breath.

A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up to see the first mate grinning down at her tiredly.

"Well that was definitely something. I don't think we could have done that without you. I guess we were lucky."

There was a call from the other crewmembers as they began to lower the main sails properly, and one of them came over to them with Gambol Shroud. He gave it to Blake gently, bowing to her and saying his thanks before hurrying back to the others to help.

"Well then." The human woman said. "Guess that explains it. You're a Huntress then?"

"I…" she said between breaths. "I'm a Huntress-in-training."

"Well that's more than any of us. Come one. I need to talk with the captain. You should come with me Huntress-in-training." Blake let out a reluctant sigh, but got to her feet all the same and followed.

The climbed the steps and entered the captain's little room. The man from before was there, hands on the wheel. He saw his first mate and nodded, then he saw Blake, and his eyes glinted with something she couldn't recognise.

"What's it like out there Alisson?"

"We managed captain." the woman reported. "It was bad there for a second, and we're going to need a new set of sails when we dock. I almost ended up at the depths myself though, if it wasn't for this one I'd been dead."

"Really now?" the Captain hummed, turning to take Blake in fully.

"She says she's a Huntress-in-training captain."

"Oh yeah? That's certainly an interesting story. Would you mind telling me which school you're from exactly?"

Blake met his eyes. "Beacon."

It was all she said.

It was enough, judging by how both humans grimaced. "Ah." He said. "bad business what happened at Beacon. Lots of people running from their homes. If you trained there you were probably right in the centre of it all. I… Sorry about that."

"it's fine." She told him. Though judging from her clipped tone she didn't really mean it.

The Captain hesitated "Although," he said. "I do have a few questions still, about _that."_

Blake flinched back. His eyes trailed up and down her left side, to her torn white coat, with holes and gashed all along it. The sleeve was ripped, evening her Grimm-like arm, and her collar was missing on one side. The side that covered her darkened neck and face. The branching marks had receded since Beacon, just a little, just so they reached under her eye. She wasn't sure what that meant, but what she did know, was that it made her far more conspicuous. "It's not my business though" he told her, pulling back. "All I need to know is that you saved my first mate and kept this ship from sinking. We're in your debt."

"I… It's nothing. It's not like I could let the ship sink with me one it."

"All the same thank you, the rest of the passengers are still below deck shivering. If you want I can tell them you helped."

Blake shook her head. "No thank you. It would be better if people _didn't_ know I was here."

"Oh?" the captain chuckled. "There's a story there, I can tell."

She shrugged, turning to leave. "I sure everyone has a story. Mines not that exciting."

The door closed behind her as she stepped outside into the gentle breeze. The captain watched her go.

"I wonder about that."

* * *

…

…

* * *

The moons broken pieces cast light onto the surface of the ocean. It sparkled in a night that would have otherwise been dark.

Blake let out a long breath, leaning against the railings of the ship. It was calm now, the crewmembers were resting below, and the other passengers were fast asleep. It was just her up on the deck.

It was quiet, relaxing, peaceful.

Her hand fell to her left arm as it twitched.

She took another breath. Breathing exercises.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Her ears fluttered atop her head as she closed her eyes, focusing on her control.

The twitching subsided after a minute and she opened her eyes, glaring down at her ar. Even looking at it now disgusted her.

And it had gotten worse.

Her fingers hand shortened slightly, matching the length of her actual hand now, but her nails had gotten sharper, like claws, monstrous talons that ended up cutting her clothes every time she so much as touched them with it.

And it had started leaking.

Whereas before it had been a mist emanating no more than a hairs breath from her limb, it was a thick, dark miasma now; smoke and fog black as grim leaked from her arm and into the sea, dissipating as it touched the water.

It sent shiver's up her spine every time she looked at it, and it was even worse when she came in contact with people who saw it.

Get out of Vale had been almost impossible, between Faunus being blamed for what the White Fang did at Beacon, to Faunus recognising her face and…

And her tenuous control on her own actions.

Earlier had been a stroke of pure luck. Her- this arm had saved her, but it usually acted out when she got to close to other people. It was violent.

She sighed. What was she even planning on doing? She'd be jumping from one problem to another when she got to-

"You know," a gruff voice called, making her jump. "You say you don't have an interesting story, and then you go and act mysterious like this at night."

Blake scowled. "I don't know how it's any of your business even if I did have a story to tell. Do you bother all your passengers like this?"

"No," the captain admitted, leaning on the railings beside her. "But I get bored you see, out on the open water like this means I have to entertain myself with the people on board, and I find that people who travel alone usually have the most interesting stories."

"Can't it just be that they like to travel alone?"

"Maybe, but that's unlikely right now, considering where this ship left from, and I have a feeling about you, being a huntress and all that."

"Huntress-in-training." She mumbled. He was right, even if she didn't want him to be. She had a story. It wasn't one she wasn't to tell though.

"You don't have to say anything." He told her suddenly, maybe sensing her troubled thoughts. "I'm a ship's captain, not a therapist, but I _do_ think that talking about these things with people can help… you have my word I won't tell anyone, after what you did."

He got no answer, and so looked over the ocean instead, content to rest there, in the peace.

And then…

"I'm going home." She said. The Faunus didn't look as the captain turned to her, lest she lose her nerve. "Menagerie is where I grew up so… I'm going home." She was talking now, and she kept talking. "I left after fighting with my parents and I haven't seen them in years and, and I'm running. I'm running from people trying to hurt me and-and people I hurt and I…" she trailed off, the desire to speak fleeing from her as fast as it had appeared.

The captain hummed. "Well that definitely sounds like something. Not much in the way of details but I can tell storytelling isn't your forte." He peered at her from the corner of his eye. "I'm still curious though, about that arm that moves on its own."

Blake stiffened.

The man blinked at the sudden chill that swept over his body.

"I-"

" _That's_ _ **none**_ _of your business."_ Blake snarled dangerously. The captain backpedalled, his survival instincts screaming at him to run. The girl realised what she'd done a second later and flinched back, shrinking in on herself and looking away.

The human stared. "More and more interesting."

"I-I-" she stuttered.

"Well that's my fault I think." He said suddenly, laughing heartily as if he hadn't just felt threatened for his life. "Don't worry about it. I know when I've stepped onto sensitive issues." He tipped his cap. "We should be arriving in Menagerie soon enough, sometime tomorrow thanks to that storm… goodnight miss."

With his piece said the captain left Blake alone, and as he left her sight she cursed herself. She shouldn't have reacted like that! She shouldn't have snapped like that!

She was acting like an _animal_ for gods sake. Wa she really that wrong in the head?

Of course she was, Adam had said so.

Blake's good hand gripped her head as she felt a migraine come on. Every time she thought back to that moment her head felt like it was about to be split in two. She barely remembered anything from it that wasn't pain. Her head was like a fog, obscuring the most important details so that all she was left with was the horror.

Adam trying to kill her, Yang appearing and then that woman in red.

And then trying to kill Yang.

Her head fell into her hands. Gods, she was a monster. She'd hurt Yang, she knew she had.

At least she was gone now, out of the girl's life. Blake couldn't hurt Yang if they never saw each other again.

It was the best choice, the smartest option. She'd be out of the way, and maybe… maybe she'd be able to make sure she couldn't hurt someone like she did Yang again.

For that to happen though, Blake knew she had to go home.

To menagerie.

Her parents.

It… had been a while since she'd seen them, talking to them. She wondered just for a bit if when she saw them they would forgive her.

She thought back to Yang's dad Taiyang.

If he could forgive Qrow, and Ruby for leaving him then… then she knew her parents would too

That at least as a comfort.

That comfort was soon erased, when the next day, they arrived to dock in Menagerie. It had taken another full day, and the sun was currently dipping over the horizon, bringing with it dusk, and a red sky.

But Blake didn't have time to focus on the weather.

No, she was focused on the flag that waved overhead.

The White Fang were on Menagerie.

She could see them from the ship, the red uniforms of the Mistrial branch, patrolling the docks, weapons in hand as they inspected every Faunus that disembarked from the ship. Blake couldn't risk them seeing her. If they did then Adam might know.

Oh gods, what about her parents?! Where they okay? She swallowed. There was only one way to find out. She had to get home, she had to find them.

Blake managed to find a coat on board the ship, on that had a hood to protect crewmembers from the rain. She disembarked, taking care to avoid the… checkpoints, that the White Fang were controlling.

In a way, she realised not much had changed as she snuck through the town. People still littered the streets, bartering and trading with one another with practised ease. There were so many people even at this time of the day, work it seemed never ceased. It was a reminder however just how different it was to the rest of the world; Blake saw more Faunus here than she had in all of Vale, she saw more in one place than she did even the White Fang.

There so many, and it was made even worse as those White Fang, carrying swords, spears and guns made their way through the streets, Faunus giving them a wide berth and shooting wary looks their way.

Was Blake confused or did they look… hungry?

Blake shook her head. Questions for another time.

She darted into a back street, weaving her way through the alleys like she was familiar with them. And she was, she remembered playing here when she was a child.

It was painful, seeing how similar it looked, and yet how it felt so different, so alien. She could see her house though, in the dist\nce. She let out a sigh of relief. It was still standing and the lights were on.

That would mean her parents were fine. She could see them, talk to them and everything would be alright.

She held on to that, as she made her way closer and closer, all the way until she was close enough…

To see White Fang guarding her home.

Her blood chilled.

The White Fang were here too. They… they had the home surrounded, they were acting like they owned it!

Where were her parents? Her dad would have never let the Fang into his home! Not after what they'd done.

Blake reached for Gambol Shroud, freeing it from its sheath as she reached the house, climbing up and slipping through one of the windows. Her feet clicked almost silently on the wooden beams in the ceiling.

Her eyes surveyed below her. Everything looked… in place.

The decor didn't look t have changed much, and it wasn't covered in dust. It was in use, someone was using this home.

It didn't answer her question of _who_ but at least it meant Blake hadn't arrived at the time of a slaughter. What did, as she skirted above, was the footsteps she could hear below. She inched over the edge to look down and froze.

A familiar form of dark skin met her vision.

Ilia.

She was moving before she could think up a plan, leaping down from the rafters and slamming her feet into the other Faunus' back.

Ilia gasped as she was brought to the floor, fighting for breath that had been knocked out of her. She made to call out, for help or just as a warning, but went silent as a black blade tipped her throat.

" _What are you doing here?_ " Blake hissed.

"B-Blake!" Ilia stuttered in obvious shock. "You're alright! I- I hadn't heard if you'd be able to make it out of Beacon I-" a hand dug into her ribs, making her cry out as the sword pressed harder, almost drawing blood.

" _What,_ " Blake repeated dangerously. " _Are you doing here?"_

Ilia's voice was tinged with fear as she spoke again. "Blake I can explain, just please put the sword dow-"

She was cut off as Blake suddenly twitched, leaping off the girl as a spear swiped at her from above.

The cat Faunus hissed as a Faunus dressed in a red robe charged her with a battle cry.

She ducked, drawing the leaver of Gambol Shroud along the haft and smashing the pommel of her blade against his temple. She went down just as another pair rounded the corner.

Gambol Shroud clicked as she aimed and fired at the pair.

They were at least competent enough to dodge the bullets, weaving through them as they closed the distance.

Blake was expecting it though, sidestepping the first stab from the one of the left, the second from the one of the right before stepping into their guard and stomping on the one of the rights knee. She head as satisfying crunch as he screamed out, and the noise did enough to startle the second one. She spun, lasing out with Gambol and thrown it _past_ him.

The Faunus got a second to feel confused before Blake yanked the ribbon and herself forward. Her blackened fist crashed into his nose and he went down in a heap.

There was more shouting now, they'd been alerted.

Blake's eyes fell to Ilia, who swallowed.

As the commotion got louder and more guards turned the corner Blake reached down and dragged the girl up, spinning her around and using her as a human shield, blade once again at her throat.

"Move and she dies!"

They must have believed her, because the group of a dozen guards stopped dead in their tracks. She saw their eyes flicker to the three bodies. She hadn't killed them, but they couldn't tell from the distance between them. Good, it gave her more to work with.

She growled into the shaking girl's ear. "I'll ask only one more time. What are you, what are the Fang doing here?"

"We were invited." Ilia whimpered, and she did so, because Blake's other hand dug into her spin hard.

"You expect me to believe that?" Blake asked, an animalistic noise building in the back of her throat.

"I-It's the truth! We-"

"What is going on here!" all eyes swerved to the new, booming voice and Blake gasped.

Before her, pushing through the terrorists, a man towered over over them all, with dark hair and golden eyes so much like her own.

His face contorted into that of confusion as he lay eyes on her, then shock when he realised who she was. "Blake?!"

"What!" another, more feminine voice cried out, and suddenly, her mother was there, just as shocked, but so hopeful.

It vanished when she saw the situation her daughter was in, three men unconscious on the grounds, and another with a blade to their throat.

Blake was about to ask what was happening, what they were doing with the White Fang. Or, she might have just run into their arms, she wasn't sure, but both options became a moot point when her eyes felon the third to appear.

A woman in red, with short dark hair, bright predator eyes, feline ears and stripes all over her body.

A sound escaped Blake's throat against her will.

It was angry.

" _Sienna Khan."_

Ilia whimpered. Her blood had been spilt. The tiniest amount, no more than a drop, but it had been all the same.

Sienna watched her warily. "Blake Belladonna… yours is a face I didn't think I would see again" he voice was measured, placating. Her gaze flickering to the one clearly under her command, and the daughter of the former White Fang leader. "…It's a pleasant surprise… why don't you put the weapon down?"

Her parents were there with her, looking for all intents and purposes like they didn't know what to do, like they couldn't believe their daughter was holding a girl hostage. A little bit of her wanted to just let Ilia go… but all it took were the memories; of her team and friends fighting against the Fang, of Weiss, confessing that they had done to her, her family and people she'd known, and of Yang who had been hurt by them.

Blake's face hardened. She took a step back, dragging Ilia with her. "Not until I get some answers. If I think they're good enough I'll let her go, if not, I'll paint the walls red."

It hurt, watching her mother take a step back in horror, this situation was a mess, it was making everything so much harder. But she wouldn't give these people a chance to capitalise on her weakness.

So she ignored her family, and focused on Sienna, who was regarding her with something else now, something she couldn't place.

"What." She repeated, one final time. "Are you doing here?"

It was not Sienna who answered.

"I invited them into my home." Her father said, stepping forward. "They asked for my aid, so I gave it to them."

Blake stared.

And stared.

And stared.

And then her face morphed as she became enraged.

"YOU WHAT!?"

Her voice was a trigger, her rage sparked something in the Faunus, an instinctual fear that sent most of them back a step.

Sienna did no. she lashed out, flicking her wrist forward as a chain lashed out.

It was razor-tipped, and Blake didn't have time to react at it pierced her blackened arm, more importantly, the one holding the sword to Ilia's neck.

There was a spurt of blood, and perhaps Sinan had been intent on having it pierce her. Perhaps she expected the pain to make her drop her weapon. She most definitely expected to have the chance to pull her pained arm away and give Ilia the chance to free herself.

Judging by how her triumphant face froze however, she didn't expect the blood to be black.

She didn't expect that instead of flinching back, Blake's arm, of its own accord, twisted, wrapping the chain around the limb, and with Gambol shroud still poised to cut, pulled Sienna closer as she struggled.

Blake's eyes flickered to her arm.

" _Huh… maybe it's good for something after all."_

The pain was there, it was agonising. But her arm did not react. Even though she could feel it, it did not flinch.

It wasn't her after all, it was its own creature, and it would not be forced back.

She felt the pull and Sienna strained against it, trying to inch the sword away from the dangerous place it was.

Black miasma began to leak from the limb as Blake snarled, as she felt those blackened vines spread up her face.

"Stop!"

Her mother cried out suddenly, and they froze. Blake felt her chest wretch as she saw her mother's face. It was scared, worried. "Please stop, both of you."

It was an ordeal, it really was, to force her sword away from ilia's throat and let the girl stumble away, clutching her neck. Not because her arm wouldn't let her, but because she didn't want to.

But she did, and she felt a sharp pull as Sienna freed her weapon from Blake's wound.

Now opened up fully, black blood dripped onto the floor.

They all looked down at it warily.

"Well," Blake mused. "It's not red, and it's not the walls, but I did say I'd paint _something_ in blood."

They looked at her now, with varying degrees of horror or disgust.

Blake sighed. She missed Yang even more now… Yang would have laughed at her joke. She liked her humour

Unfortunately, Yang wasn't here, and after a few more moments of tense silence between them, her father albeit reluctantly offered for them to all talk it out over some tea. So that's where they were, Blake, her parents, Sienna, and surprisingly Ilia, sat around a table on their knees, and each of them shooting her disturbed looks.

It was her father that spoke first, after coughing into his fist.

"So… Blake. You… you made it out of Vale. We weren't sure with the CCT down but it's a relief to see you're fine despite the… circumstances."

He glanced down at her arm. She Blake made a point not to look perturbed by his look. Yes, she hated it, she hated looking at her arm, and being reminded what it was and what it had made her do but that was her business, not his. He had no right to look at it, at her that way. Right now, she was wrapping it in bandages… she'd found out that while damage on her left side didn't seem to be fatal, her Aura wouldn't or couldn't heal it.

So she was left to do it the old-fashioned way.

The white wrappings were quickly stained black.

"We were so worried about you," Her mother jumped in when it was clear she was refusing to answer her father's unspoken question. "We hadn't heard from you in so long and then we saw you at the Vytal festival and-"

She was cut off as Blake's hand suddenly squeezed too hard and the table splinted. Not too much, just where her hands were gripping. She remembered a moment later, that while such actions would be noted, but unsurprising for Huntsmen, it was probably a shock for two civilians.

"Sorry." She muttered. "Vytal wasn't the best of times… I don't like thinking about it."

She didn't say how… angry it made her feel.

"I-" her mother hesitated. "I can understand that. We didn't see all of it, but we did see the Grimm attack the city. It must have been horrible."

Blake blinked, looking up at her mom. "It's not the Grimm I hate thinking about."

That seemed to throw her mom through a loop. "Then… what do you-"

"Weiss." Ilia suddenly spoke up, and Blake's posture was suddenly very, very stiff. Judging by the look she was sending the girl, her next words would need to be chosen carefully.

"Weiss Schnee," she repeated. "She was hurt during a fight. I… I got her out of there and handed her over to some doctors. Last thing I was able to check she was okay, or, at least she was going to be."

Blake held her gaze for a minute, not saying a word, and Ilia felt herself fidget. She didn't look away though, no matter how much she wanted to.

Suddenly, those black veins that had reached Blake's eyes receded, and her shoulders slumped. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'm… I'm sorry about hurting you earlier."

Ilia's hand unconsciously rubbed her next, where the blade had bit into. It was clear now, not even a scar.

"It's fine. After all I did that was probably getting off likely. She saved my life when Mountain Glenn went down do so… I just returned the favour."

All the same, Blake nodded.

"I'm... sorry, I'm confused." Her dad said. "What were you doing in Vale at that time Ilia?"

Blake blinked.

And blinked again.

She turned to stare at her dad, and judging by the way he frowned, she could tell he knew she was looking at him as if he were an idiot. That quickly changed as Blake realised something.

"You don't know?" she gasped. "How could you not know?"

"Know what Blak-"

Blake's hands slammed down on the table, and it groaned from the abuse. All the same, Blake pushed herself up, and pointed at the tiger Faunus in the room. " _Her_ people attacked the city! _Her_ people butchered men, women and children by the hundreds! _Her_ people, tried to kill me, my team, my friends, and everyone else in Vale!"

Kali's hands flew to her mouth in horror, eyes wide at the news. It confirmed it, they really hadn't known. That just made her angrier.

Ghira turned to Sienna.

"Is this true?"

The tiger Faunus glanced at him, before taking a long sip of her tea. Then, her eyes met Blake's. They were calm.

"It's more complicated than that, but yes."

"Don't you dare act like you didn't-"

"We did join in on the attack." Sienna cut in, interrupting Blake's rage. "But what I was made aware of was that it would be on the School, and even then, only to send a message."

"Because killing students sends a great message for the White Fang."

"I admit it wasn't the right Corse of action, but it was the one offered to us. However I didn't want to attack all of Vale, nor side with _Grimm_ of all things and destroy the only way for people to communicate through the world. That was too far."

"Words from a killer like you aren't worth the breath you waste on them."

"And you're much better?" Sienna accused. "You were apart of the White Fang, even when it was under my control. You took part in the act, _you_ killed people. Did you not?"

Blake's face was apocalyptic, and Sienna realised she'd made a mistake somewhere.

" _I was forced to kill innocents by Adam's orders. As soon as I did I realised how wrong it was. I left Adam and tried to make it right! You ENCOURAGED his killings!"_

"I did what I thought was right." Sienna snarled. "The Humans were butchering _us_ I chose to do something and stick by my principles. I didn't run from them as soon as things got hard."

"Don't you _fucking_ dare! Don't you dare drag me down to the same twisted level as you. You ordered the attack, you sentenced those people to their deaths, and even if it had been the target you had wanted, you would have still been killing people who did nothing wrong. But now here we are, and you stand in front of me and act like you have the moral high-ground you bitch? A child-killer?"

"Blake!" Ghira snapped. "That's enough!"

" _ **NO**_ **!"** Blake roared back, and her father actually stumbled back as a sound not human, Faunus nor even animal ripped from her throat.

"Adam is a monster _she_ made. He's a killer, a remorse demon and slaughters people who stand against him and he hurt- he hurt-" she broke off in a choking sob, but before Ghira could even register it, the pain in her voice, Blake glared up at him. "It's yours as well." She hissed. "it's your fault. Adam was under your control and you didn't do anything. Worse, just because people asked you _stepped down_! You gave it to Sienna, and this is what happened. The blood of the people who died are on your hands too!"

"Blake!" her mother exclaimed.

She stopped, breathing heavily and looked around. Ilia was cowering, terrified of _Blake_ of all people as she shook. It was as if she saw Blake as a stranger, as someone who would hurt her. She wouldn't, not after what she'd did for Weiss.

Kali looked horrified, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeming. Whether that was because of her words, or because her limbs were smoking again,or the veins on her face, she wasn't sure, but she realised she didn't care.

She looked to Sienna, who was staring at her, studying her with interest. She saw her as a threat, one to watch, but she was interested in her, something about her.

She was curious.

Lastly, she looked to her father.

To his face.

He was heartbroken. Her words, had actually hurt him. She'd hurt him.

Like she hurt everyone else.

But she was still so _angry_.

Blake spat to the side, and stormed past him, out of the room. She needed some air, and she needed some peace.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake's hands gripped the rails as she took a deep breath on the balcony.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

The shattered moon beamed down on her, and it annoyed her.

She was angry, she knew that. It was not a natural anger, she knew that too.

This… thing, that was a part of her, was doing something to her. It was messing with her emotions, amplifying them.

What she had said to her dad… none of it had been untrue. Deep down, she really did blame him, as twisted as that was.

And she hated that she knew that too.

She hadn't even seen her parents for an hour, hadn't spoken to them for more than twenty minutes and she'd already done this to them. "I shouldn't have come home."

"Maybe not, but here you are now."

Blake stiffened, as Sienna Khan leaned against the railing beside her, looking out towards the town. If the tiger Faunus noticed Blake's discomfort, she didn't mention it, though Blake was sure she did. "There's no point regretting that you've come home. You've done it, it's already happened."

She didn't look Blake's way.

"You should feel remorse for what you said to your father, but you should not regret it. It's been said, you can't change that now."

"Like I should trust the words of someone like you." Blake growled menacingly.

Sienna hummed. "Someone like me? I suppose you don't have to, such things are decided by ourselves. You can ignore my words and nothing will change. Or you could listen and they might."

Blake looked away, but she didn't protest when the older woman spoke again. "I have done things many would agree are wrong. I _have_ hurt people. And for that, I know that the ones I have won't forgive me for what I've done. They have every right to hate me, I understand that… but the people I helped? The Faunus I've empowered and risen up? They are how I can see that while what I've done is hard, it's right."

Blake scoffed. I've seen first-hand what you've _done._ Humans mistrust the Faunus even more than they did before. Now it's just coupled with fear." She turned to Sienna, and with a look in her eye that made the tiger pause. "You haven't done anything hard. Lashing out, making people fear you? That's easy. You took the easy way out. So did dad."

She sneered. "Just because people were impatient, because not everyone agreed with how he did things he stepped down. He ran away from it. Maybe that's where I get it from. I run away, just like he did."

Sienna raised an eyebrow. "And what would you have done? His people wanted change and he couldn't give it to them."

"I would have _kept going_." Blake snarled, and Sienna actually blinked in surprise. "I would have ignored their words, their selfish complaints. The people who rallied against his didn't want change, they wanted revenge. The ones who were impatient? What could they have known? People below don't understand what it is to be at the top, who lead have to push on despite what others say. No matter the protests, the arguments, the arguments."

"And that is any different from what I was doing how?"

"Because you were just like the others." Sienna took a step back. Blake followed. "You didn't choose what was hard. You didn't want change, not change that would last anyway. You wanted to fight, you wanted to do what was easy and made you feel better and because of that you gave power to the ones that hated humanity _more_ than you."

Blake bore into her eyes, a hairs breath away from her now. "You were just like all the others that didn't know how to fix things, but thought you did. You want to know what I would have do? I would have strived for peace, and when things got hard I wouldn't have backed down like dad. I wouldn't have taken the easy way out and hurt people like you. I would have done what was hard, and put everything I had into making a world where Humans and Faunus weren't forced to live together out of fear, but because they trusted each other."

And suddenly, Blake felt tired. She took a step back, and looked away wearily. Sienna was frozen stiff, staring at her.

Instead, the White Fang got two leaders they couldn't make the hard choices, could shoulder the burden of hatred. Two cowards, on both ends of the spectrum."

"…and you have?" it wasn't a challenge, or a spiteful comeback. It was a question, and an honest one. Blake thought back to the promise she'd made to Weiss, to shoulder the hatred of Humanity and Faunus onto herself. To work together with her to make the world better. It felt like such a long time ago.

She thought of Ruby, and her smile, even in a broken world, with what she'd been through she had hope.

She thought of the Heiress, with her loneliness, and her duty, how she could open up, and tried her hardest, despite the pain the world had caused her to understand it.

And she thought of yang, and her smile, and her warmth, and all the amazing things about her, how she stayed strong, even as the world tried to destroy her.

She looked to the moon and realised.

She hadn't given up yet.

She wouldn't run. This was just a temporary retreat until she could control herself, this thing that had saved and ruined her life.

She wasn't running. She had made a promise.

"I have." She said at last, and the words, words she had never heard, but felt with so much familiarity they may as well have been imprinted on her soul. "No matter how hard it gets, I'll keep trying, keep striving for the right kind of piece… I'll keep moving forward."

There was silence.

And then, Sienna stood beside her once again.

"When you stayed in the White Fang, despite your parents' departure, it bolstered the cause instead of weakening it. I don't think you ever realised how much your mere presence inspired them. They believed that because you remained, you and Adam, that what they were doing was right."

She sighed. "And when you left, people were shaken. They were unsure of themselves, of what they were doing. If I had been better, maybe it could have been me who inspired them. Instead, it was Adam. He took it all, their rage, their betrayal and their despair and he used it. People became loyal to him, not to me. It was only near the end, when he became more… volatile, that I realised what was going on, when the plan changed."

Her hand roamed up over her waist, and Blake suddenly noticed the bandages wrapped around her side. She'd been stabbed. Any closer, and it would have been fatal.

"Only the oldest, the closet, perhaps the strongest, were loyal to me. I worked with that as much as I could, to keep them like that. The people you say today, the ones in the town, at the docks, just a few hundred, where those who stayed with me."

"What are you saying?"

"There has been a schism." She told her, and suddenly, Blake felt her mouth run dry. "Adam wanted more, more than he had. He tried to kill me. There was a betrayal. It was only because I saw it coming that I was able to survive… he's working with someone, someone powerful that I don't know of. Some kind of… master. He has control over the White Fang, the masses. They are unskilled compared to my own, the strongest of his having died in the Vale attack. But they are fanatic, insane, and they grow by the hour."

"You don't lead the White Fang anymore."

"There _is_ no White Fang. There is no movement for equality in any measure. Adam only wants death. He told me that he wants the Humans to serve the Faunus. It's madness."

Sienna gazed over the town, once again. "I think that this might truly be the only organised home for Faunus, that doesn't want the same. The ones that don't want to fight… Ghira wants to stay out of it. He doesn't want to bring fighting to these shores."

Blake closed her eyes. "But he doesn't know Adam, not like we do."

"Exactly." She nodded. "Sooner or later, Adam will turn this way, to the home of all Faunus, and he'll destroy it… these people have to be ready."

"And you want my help. Don't you?"

"I can feel the power from you Belladonna. It's dark, and dangerous, but it's powerful and we can use it. Help me make these people stronger, in secret if we have to. Help me build them up and defend them. You do not trust me, I can understand that, but this goes beyond that."

"Making the hard choices." Blake mused and turned to the other woman, extending a hand, purposefully her darkened one. "Alright… as I see it, even if it's just a precaution for now, even if dad doesn't agree, we have to do it."

Sienna glanced down at it, and without fear, grasped hold of the Grimm-like hand and shook. It was a deal, a contract, a binding. Two people, who fought for different beliefs, understood what had to be done. Ironically, perhaps that was what they should have down with humanity, from the very beginning. "We can begin as soon as you're ready, but for now, what are you going to do?"

Blake paused, and looked back towards the moon.

There was doubt.

"I need to apologise to dad first… I went way to far with what I said. But after that? I think… I'm going to rest."

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **So Blake's back in familiar territory and unfamiliar faces, and she's here alone. We'll see how that works out for her, she's got a lot of stuff top be worrying about.**

 **I'll be getting into more of the consequences the Fall and on the world next chapter, so stay tuned for that.**

 **Yang's next, and you'll get to see what I've had planned for her for a while...**

 **Okay So I can promise it's not a bad thing at least.**

 **You'll have to see how later this week.**

 **But on this chapter, let me know you're thoughts on it, or of what I set up top, communicating your opinions will help me work on them.**

 **But in the mean time, if you thought this chapter was any good I'd appreciate it if you could follow or favourite it, and I you have time leave a review.**

 **I'm already getting to work.**

w


	42. Yellow: Part 2

**So as promised here's the next chapter early for you guys. Since I'm not sure if I'll be able to squeeze in the time next week I hope this will tie you over until then.**

 **It could be all worry over nothing but either way it's win-win.. you get a chapter early, or you get an extra chapter.**

 **I have more to say at the bottom, so I'll leave this here just as a reminder.**

* * *

…

* * *

Yang ran her hand over the stone before her, this was old stone, grey but well kept. It stood out from the buildings around it; wooden and new. They were houses, shops, walls. The signs of a newly risen village. It had grown up around the stone building,

No, not a building, a bunker.

This was the place Cardin told her about, he'd sent her the coordinates before the tower went down. This is where they had taken people who couldn't leave the kingdom.

She went inside, and was quickly greeted by a shiny metal door. It had no handle, no cracks or openings. It wasn't meant to be opened from the outside.

Well, that just meant she had to knock, didn't it?

She did so, her obsidian hand making a very peculiar noise as she did so. Whoever was waiting on the other side certainly thought so if their stuttered shuffling of feet were anything to go by. Suddenly there was a shift, as the metal warbled away as if by magic.

A face could be seen. They were male, looked about thirty, with a messy, unshaven face, but the black collar gave it away that she was in the right place even if she didn't recognise him.

"Yes?"

"yang Xiao-Long." She drawled. "I'm looking for Mirark."

His eyes narrowed. "Never heard of her."

A lie, she could tell as soon as he said it. She could _smell_ it off him.

"Really? You sure?" she asked. "Cause I think that outfit of yours says otherwise. I mean, it would be pretty embarrassing I guess, if you didn't know what of the bosses I mean.

The man didn't look impressed. In fact, he looked annoyed more than anything else. "Like I said, never heard of her. You have the wrong place, leave."

Yang's smile slipped from her face. "Look _buddy_ ," she growled. "I'm not in a good mood. I' going to talk to Mirark, and I know the Order's here, so you have two options. Either you let me in, or I knock down the door with you on the other side."

He hesitated, before taking a step back so Yang couldn't see him. The door opened with a thud a moment later and swung back. She walked past him as he glowered at her. She didn't care. She didn't have time for so anybody right now.

Yang came to some steps leading downwards. So the bunker was underground then was it? It made sense she could admit. They probably needed a lot more room than what it looked like they had outside.

It didn't take her long to reach the bottom and for her to spot someone she did have time for down the long dark hallway.

"Yo, Cardin." She called out.

He turned to the sound of her voice and waved, before saying something to the person next to him, how nodded in return before leaving. With that done he made his way to meet Yang.

"So you got my message, good. I was worried for a while there that you didn't make it out."

"Please," she grinned. "I'm Yang Xiao-Long, you think a little old terrorist attack is gonna take me out?"

He managed a laugh at that. "I guess not."

She frowned. "Are you okay Cardin? You seem… I don't know, upset."

He sighed, running a hand over his neck. "I'm… I'm fine yang things have just been hard and not just with all the extra work we've been forced to do now. It's…"

He trailed off, but Yang caught his tone, and it worried her.

"What happened to the others Cardin? Where are the other students?"

"They're fine," he rushed to assure her, before hesitating. "Or, well they're managing I guess. Students from the other schools managed to get out of the kingdom thanks to the Order, but our own were hit too hard to move. My teams okay, they decided to help around as much as they can, a few extra bodies for manual labour don't hurt. We… buried Yatsuhashi two days ago."

"Oh." Yang mumbled. "then… I guess the rest of team Coffe isn't doing so well. Is Velvet okay?"

He grimaced. "Physically yes but… things are complicated."

"Aren't they always?"

"I guess so but… Velvet… she blames me for what happened I think."

"What? Why?"

"Because I kept things from her. I understand where she's coming from."

Yang growled. "Are you serious? She blames _you_ for what happened to her teammate and you're okay with that?"

"Yes." He said matter of factly. "She wasn't like us Yang. She didn't know about forces beyond the Grimm in this city. She doesn't know about magic, but she knows that the Order was aware of something threatening to go wrong during the festival. She blames me for not telling her."

"And?" she pressed. "So what's the deal know then?"

"I-"

"She dumped him." Came a new voice and they both turned in time to see Miltia walking towards them in the same black coat. Yang noticed the bags under her eyes though, and the _way_ she walked. She was exhausted.

"They had a fight and everything, and the rabbit said it was over between them. Can't say I'm surprised all things considered."

"All things considered?" Yang echoed. "Are you even listening to him? You can't seriously think it's his fault!"

"Of course I don't." The red malachite twin scowled. "I'm not an idiot club wrecker, but she's in mourning. She needs someone to blame."

"And Cardin's the one who had to take it?"

"Instead of herself? Yeah."

Yang's hand's clenched into fists. The other girl gave her a look. "Are you okay Yang? It feels like you're getting far too worked up over this."

"I'm fine." She snapped.

"Well then calm down." Miltia hissed. "I've got enough problems with my own sister freaking out. When she found out about this she was pissed. Junior was too but Melene hasn't stopped going on about it all week about me keeping secrets from her. I think she wants to _join_ just to make sure I don't do things like this without her. So I've got enough on my plate as it is."

Yang glared at her, but after a moment, she forced her shoulders to relax. She sighed. "You're right… sorry. Guess it's been pretty crappy for all of us lately."

"Yeah…"

Yang hesitated. "hey… what about Coco? I heard she got it bad from a poison from one of the people who attacked you. Is she…"

"Alive." Cardin told her. "but… it's not good."

Yang found out why a few minutes later.

She'd asked Cardin to show her where Coco was being taken care of and he'd agreed if a little reluctantly. He led her to a hospital wing in the bunker, and into one of the rooms.

He gave her time alone.

The leader of team CFVY lay in bed, staring off into the void before Yang took a step forward and the sound snapped her back to reality.

When she saw the blonde she scowled.

"What do you want?"

The greeting wasn't what Yang had expected and she almost tripped over her own two feet because of it. "What?" she blinked. "What's the matter? I came to see if you were alright."

"Alright? Are you serious? You think I'm alright?"

She frowned. "Well I don't know… that's why I'm here."

Coco blinked as if realising something. "You're… not one of these Order guys?"

Yang shook her head. "Nope. I mean I know about them, but apart from having a sort of friendly relationship with them after they helped me out with something no, I'm not."

Coco looked away. "Oh… okay then… I… sorry…"

There was a pause that lingered between awkwardly.

"So…"

The older girl sighed. "No Yang, I'm not okay. I…" she grasped the bedsheets and ripped them away. "Look at me."

Yang looked down "Ah… right."

Coco's legs were gone, both just below the knee were cut off and bandaged up.

"What happened?"

Coco closed her eyes and leaned back against the bed.

"That Faunus guy… he cut me good. Tore right through ligaments, bone and pretty much everything else that made my leg function. My Aura couldn't heal it properly because of my _other_ leg dealing with poison. It fucked it up."

She looked down at her stumps. "The docs told me the poison would kill me before they could get a cure… so they cut it off, and since the other one wouldn't ever heal right, they cut it off too."

"They can't do that can they? I mean, did they have your permission even?"

"No, they didn't." Coco swallowed. "They thought the poison had made me delirious, so when I told them not to they ignored me. They said they were saving my life." Fuckers, the cut off my leg because they think they can replace it with something else more useful."

"But… that's good right?" she tried. "I mean, if they can replace it then at least you'll be above to walk again."

"You don't get it." Coco glared, shaking her head frantically. "It was _my_ leg. I… I would have been fine walking with a limp, even if they just cut off the leg that would have killed me, I… I could understand that at least but _both_ of them?"

She choked suddenly on a sob.

Yang was reminded right then and there that Coco wasn't just some badass friend of hers that was always cool under pressure.

She had been a beacon at school, cool and cocky to a fault.

But she was still only a year older than Yang.

And with everything happening she'd just lost a part of her.

In more ways than one.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Do?" the second year parroted. "What can I do? Even if I can get some new legs I don't… I don't think I can go back to that… it's getting worse out there Yang."

"Worse?" Yang frowned. "What do you mean worse?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

Coco sighed. "Go ask that Mirark woman. She'll explain it better than I can. I'm sure she's got plenty of things to tell you that I have no clue about."

"Coco-"

"Just go." She sighed, before managing a weak, tired smile. "I already have Velvet and Fox worrying over my mental health. It's stupid. I don't need another… you've got something planned ahead of you, right? Something I probably can't talk you out of."

"…yeah, I do."

"Good luck then, I guess. Do me a favour and try not to die, alright?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Mirark was waiting for her when she entered the room. That room being weirdly large and circular, with a round table in the centre with a map sprawled atop of it. Thing was though, it was moving. A holographic image. Yang didn't know why that weirded her out, maybe she just hadn't expected people with magic to be up to date of the tech side of things.

"Yang." The woman greeted. "Cardin told me you were here."

She nodded. "Yeah. I saw a refugee shelter on the way here… you guys have your hands full."

Mirarck sighed. "the other Elders are dealing with it mostly, the management of people is comp0licatd at the best of times, but with the sudden influx of people missing their homes we're not capable of managing it safely. They slapped me with the peacekeeping role… and that's not going anywhere good."

"Yeah, Coco mentioned that… she said things have gotten worse, what she mean by that?"

Another sigh. "Come look at this will you?" the older woman asked, moving over to the map. She waved her hand over it, and sparks flicked from her fingers. "Focus magic into it so that you are connected to it will you? It'll make it easier to show instead of telling you."

She nodded, raising her obsidian hand over the map and closing her eyes, channelling magic through her fingertips.

Belladonna lilies bloomed in her mind.

And just like that, Yang felt a whole lot more pissed off.

That went unknown to Mirark, who pointed at the now swirling map. "What do you see?"

Yang frowned. "I dunno, clouds? I mean, there all sorts of bright colours like someone let off a rainbow or something but apart from that not much."

"What you're seeing is an oversaturation of magic."

Yang's mind went back to her grimoire. Magic oversaturation was dangerous. I was what it sounded like, there was too much magic in a certain place at any one time. That could have potentially catastrophic effects if left for too long.

This was all over Vale, and it was spreading.

"Do you know what I got a report of today?" Mirack asked. "A Cockatrice. It attacked a group of my men on their scouting route… it was the first sighting of one in the last three hundred years." She shook her head. "Two of my men didn't make it back."

Yang winced. "Shit…"

"Yeah," Mirarck agreed. "Shit."

"How did this even happen? Where is this magic coming from?"

"We have an idea…" she said. "Take a look at this."

She pointed to a part of the map swirling with the most energy, like a hurricane of thick, dense colours and miasma. It was like it was trapped in a bubble, slowly leaking out to the rest of the world… and if it was doing this much still contained as it was…

"Beacon." Yang muttered.

"Exactly. The source of all this magic came from Beacon, more magical energy than had existed for centuries. We don't know what's going on, and we don't know what Ozpin has planned… we hear he was dead but we're still looking for him just in case. He might be able to give us answers… if he'll provide them.

"You won't find him then." Yang told her.

"Why not?"

"You know Ozpins got some kind of immortality right? Well it's not some kind of agelessness; he jumps from body to body every time he dies. That' how he manages to stay in hiding so well, he looking so different because he _is_ different."

Miracrk's face morphed in so much disgust Yang actually felt it tangibly.

"He's like a parasite!"

"I… guess so. Anyway he could be anywhere, so I wouldn't waste time looking for him. If he doesn't want to be found it would be pretty easy for him to hide."

The woman sighed. "I see. I suppose I'll have to go back to the drawing board on that one… but…. We have another problem."

"Really? Wow, you'd think the fall of a city would be carfree!"

"Your sarcasm is noted and unappreciated." Mirarck deadpanned.

"So, what's the problem. If you're mentioning it to me I'm guessing its relevant."

"Probably to you more than me to be honest.. the Grimm."

"What about them?"

"There's been a surge in activity, or, there's been a surge of Grimm that have become a major threat."

"Are hordes attacking towns?"

"That's just it, it's the opposite."

I got a message from a village further out on the frontier. It had one or two Huntsmen stationed there, plenty of work you know, and enough experience between them that they can usually deal with most Grimm that wander their way."

"Something changed I'm guessing."

She nodded. "A survivor from the village got to one of my men and told us the story. According to her a single pack of Beowolves tore the place apart."

"I… what? But that would be like, what, twelve at most? Two Huntsmen should have been overkill for something like that."

"I know, I've seen how good someone fresh out of graduation is in Huntsman terms, these two had over ten years of experience… but they weren't expecting the Grimm to be as strong as they were… or as smart. Something changed"

"You're not saying what I think you're saying … are you?"

Mirark sighed. "The Grimm have somehow been affected by the same thing as the rest of the Kingdom."

Yang swore. "Magic. The Grimm are apparently made of pure Magic."

"You got that from Merlot's research?"

The blonde looked away, aware of how the doctor was still viewed. He'd been responsible for Glenn after all. The Order was damaged by that just as much as everyone else. "He told me himself… yeah."

"He was damaged, but he was a genius. I read the notes you shared with us too but it was overcomplicated. I had some of my scribes go through it and they were stumped… but I'm guessing you could read it just fine."

Yang blinked. "Wait, you guys couldn't read it?"

"We couldn't _grasp_ it. The concepts the way he explained things just don't commute with us. I think he had those notes of his specificity designed for you… something in your head."

"Or my blood."

Branwen. The thought came to mind as soon as she said it. The Branwen's were apparently special for some reason, able to commune with creatures others hadn't been able to… and since she was a Branwen…

"The Grimm are made of pure Magic," Yang explained. "That's what he told me. "He doesn't know _how_ they're created, but he knew they were made of it completely. Magic taken physical form."

Mirark swallowed. "And now with so much Magic in the air, so much spreading to every corner of the kingdom."

"It'll spread like wildfire," Yang finished. "The Grimm are going to get stronger all over the place. If so few can kill Huntsmen like that-"

"Then we need to give them as much help as we can."

The brawler shot her a surprised look. "I was going to say get yourselves an army."

The Elder sighed. "We'd be throwing bodies at the problem without solving it. Look at me Yang; it took me all my life to get to the point. Those two back at Beacon that I fought? I almost died even though we had them so severely outnumbered _and_ we had magic to give us an edge that it wasn't even fair."

"My people aren't strong enough, just aren't equipped to deal with the Grimm, especially now. No, the Huntsmen are so we'll give them all the support we can against the Grimm; men to defend residents, food and resources, all the dust we have stored up. That'll be hard with all the secrecy."

Yang frowned. "You're not going to tell people about magic _now?_ After all this?"

"This would be the worst time Yang. People can confuse something like a Cockatrice with a Grimm, but they could do the same to a Goblin, or a centaur or anything else with a lick of sentience. They might end up lashing out."

"You think they would?"

"They already have with the Faunus in the past, you think they won't with something that doesn't look even remotely human?"

Yang's silence was the only answer she needed.

Mirark sighed. "This is going to age me, I swear… but I know you didn't come here to hear me mope. You've been patient and listened to me, so; what do you need my help with Yang."

She scratched the back of her head. "I fell pretty bad asking for it now, considering all you're going to be dealing with."

"Don't be." Mirark laughed, smiling down at her. "You're a Huntress-in-training aren't you? Your jobs to deal with the Grimm and protect people. Helping you just means I'm doing _my_ job, and personally, I think you're a lot more equipped to deal with this than others, as a Magi as well as a fighter. So ask away Yang Xiao-Long and I'll do my best to help."

She paused just for a moment, before smiling. "Alright then, but first, call me Yang Branwen."

* * *

…

…

* * *

A day later, and Yang was ready to leave.

"She was outside, a travel pack on her shoulder and a new outfit courtesy of the Order. It was the normal black coat they wore, though she'd made some… modifications to it in terms of some extra armour, and a few of her own choice details, namely her orange scarf and purple bandana wrapped around one leg.

Had to feel like home after all.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Cardin asked her. He and Miltia had decided to see her off for what it was worth. She was glad they did. She hoped they would make it through all of this crap.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Need to get out there and make myself known somehow. Best way to protect my sis you know?"

"But still, Branwen?"

She shrugged "It's my mo- Raven's name. Considering that she happens to be my biological mother it sorta fit."

"And you think it'll help? It seems too obvious for them to fall for it."

"Yeah but that's the thing, it doesn't matter if they do or not. They'll have to keep an eye on me either way, and if they're doing that, they're not looking for Ruby. So it works out either way."  
he sighed. "I guess it does. Still don't like it. You're going out there by yourself."

"I've made my decision Cardin, she said firmly. "I'm sticking with it."

He sighed, but nodded. Miltia rolled her eyes. "He's just worried you'll bite it doing something stupid, don't worry, I won't mourn you if you do."

She laughed. "Good to hear you care."

"Yeah, yeah."

They shared a look, before the twin sighed and opened up her arms. "Come here."

"Aw~"

"Shut up a just give me a hug." She grumbled. Yang did, wrapping her arms around the other girl, and tactfully ignoring how she pressed her head into the crook of the blonde's neck.

She was worried about Yang too, but she was Miltia, meaning she was too stubborn to say it.

They had something, something between them.

They'd been intimate a long time ago, and even if they no longer were, they still had a connection. For them to be separated like _this_? It was hard.

They separated after a minute, and yang smiled. "Look after my bike will ya?"

"You sure you don't want to take it with you?"

"I'd just end up leaving it behind. "Atlas cutting off trade means Dust is gonna be scarce. I can't afford to waste it on fuel."

"So you're walking."

She nodded. "So I'm walking."

"…Good luck."

"Yeah, you too."

There wasn't much more to say that hadn't already been said. They parted on those words, Cardin and Miltia back to the Order, to their duty, and Yang to the open road. The next village was still a few hours away, if she wanted to make it there before sundown, she needed to get moving right away.

It was because of her haste, eyes facing forward, that she didn't notice someone else's eyes following her from a distance.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The next town over Yang found, wasn't in to bad condition considering the refugee troubles people were having.

What was the name of this place; Airgran?

Yang wasn't entirely sure where a name like that came from, but the people of Vale weren't very creative when it came to naming things, Fort Castle being the perfect example of that, or Grainsal.

It looked okay though, at least now that the sun was going down over the horizon. Dusk was about to set in properly and people were closing down shop. People at the moment were to busy with their own things to look her way, and especially busy when they had to pass the beggars on the street.

An example of how Vale government just wasn't able to handle the sudden influx of problems facing them. Not that she could blame them.

Though nobody was thinking about it, maybe they didn't realise it, but what happened in Vale was so close to what happened in Mountain Glenn it was scary.

They'd lost another city, and people had lost their homes…

At least they weren't sealing people in tunnels.

Yang made sure to spare the beggar a few Lien.

Airgran had an inn luckily, and from the sounds of it, one that was already pretty busy.

She nodded to herself and decided to check it out.

Stepping in, things quietened down.

Right away, she knew people were staring at her, or watching her out of the corner of their eyes. So, either they didn't get visitors often, or they didn't _like_ visitors.

Well, they could be staring at her because she looked good in black, because _damn_ Yang hadn't realised how great she looked in it until now. But she doubted these people had tastes like that.

 _Eh_.

Yang made a show of ignoring them as she strode over to the counter.

She shot a smile at the man behind it, (Who was currently glaring at her) leaned against the bar doubling as a counter and set her obsidian arm on top with an audible click.

She had to make people take notice of her after all, an arm like hers was something people wouldn't have seen before, at least not commonly. It was a good start.

"Hey," she grinned. "So, I'm pretty aware that these guys are staring at me from behind, and while I appreciate the looks their giving my ass I'd appreciate it more if we didn't do the whole stereotypical thing where you refuse outsiders a room, so if you let me pay for one we can speed this along."

The bartender, or innkeeper, whatever they called themselves out here, frowned.

"We have a few rooms." He admitted begrudgingly. "but prices are high right now with so many people… passing through. You might not be able to pay."

A single plastic card was dropped onto the table.

He blinked, eyes flickering down to it. "What's this?"

"Twelve hundred Lien."

He blanched. She appreciated the surprise. As well as the stirring from people listening in

"T-that's um, more than enough for a room miss."

She grinned, his tune had changed. Not that she could blame him. Most people's did in the face of money like this. But that was the plan. It wasn't even her money anyway, the Order had been generous with financing her.

She was pretty sure they were still hoping she'd join one day.

"Yeah, it's about what, four times what a room normally costs in these parts?"

"F-five times miss."

"Really? Well then maybe you'll be nice and help me get my Lien's worth. How about a drink to start off with?"

"O-of course." He nodded, hand reaching to slide the Lien over to him in case she took it back. "What would you like."

"Hm.. whatever's the strongest you have, double it."

"We um… have ale."

"…yeah okay fine."

It wouldn't give her the kick she wanted but a drink was a drink, so when the bartender slid it her way she sent him a thankful nod and took a swig, relieved at the way it fixed that tingling she had at the back of her throat.

It was like a burning sensation.

Yang blinked as a chill ran up her spine. She had a feeling that-

"Thanks," she said. "I'll be back for my room later, don't sell it on me kay?"

She turned before he could answer and rushed out the door.

Yang kept silent as she looked left and right down both ends of the town. It was dark now, barely bright enough to see in front of her face if it wasn't for the lamplight, people were going back to that in an effort to conserve Dust.

There were still a few people out, but most were on their way home.

Yang turned left, walking quickly before taking a sudden turn around the corner and down the alley beside the inn.

Before turning on a dime and lashing out with both hands. Her fingers clamped around a pair of necks and she slammed them into the wall. She'd noticed the cloaked pair following her for the last hour, she'd been waiting for the moment they got too close.

"Talk." She growled. "Why are you following me?"

"Y-yang!" one of the choked out. "C-chill out it's us!"

She blinked. "Sun?" she dropped them in an instant and the coughed, massaging their necks as their hoods fell away. A head of blonde and blue hair confirmed that yes, it was them.

She frowned, hands falling to her hips., "What are you two even doing here? Shouldn't you be back in Mistral?"

Sun managed to stand and shake his head, whether to answer her question or steady himself after that surprise attack she wasn't sure.

"We were looking for you. We saw you back at the bunker."

"You were there?"

"Yeah," Neptune said, standing up. "Scarlet and Sage went back to Haven, but Sun decided he wanted to help the refugees out. So both of us stayed behind to do some of the heavy liftings."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you two helped the Order out with that?"

Sun nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't too big of a deal for us, even if those guys are strange. I mean, they look a little strange for people just helping survivors out and all."

There was a question there, Yang was sure of it, but even if Sun didn't realise it he'd given her enough info to judge he didn't know what they Order really were. They really had kept the magic part quiet then.

"Anyway," he went on when he realised she wasn't going to explain it for him. "We saw you arrive by yourself and when you left on your own we got worried so we thought we'd make sure you were alright."

"By following me? You couldn't have just walked up and explained yourselves?"

"Ah well-"

"Sun wanted to practice his sneaking around." Neptune told her, ignoring the indignant cry from the Faunus.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah well your stealth sucks just so you know."

"Hey!"

"It doesn't matter," she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "You shouldn't have followed me. It's too dangerous out here for people who don't know what they're getting into. You should have left Vale as soon as you had the chance."

The Faunus returned the frown. "What, and you do know what you're getting into? Listen Yang, we were worried about you okay? Weiss was sent back to Atlas, only you know where Ruby is, and _nobody_ has any idea where Blake is."

Yang's eyes flashed. "Don't mention her name."

"Wha-?"

"I don't what to heard about her." She growled. "She's gone, don't talk about her anymore, I want nothing to do with her."

The two haven students shared a look before Neptune looked back. "Yang, she's your partner."

"I don't-"

She was cut off as a scream ripped through the air.

The trio bolted upright as the sound tore through them.

"What was-"

"It came from the centre of town." Sun called, already running towards it. "Come on!"

Yang cursed, but it didn't stop her from following. They weren't too far away, so it didn't take them more than a few seconds, but when they arrived it was to the sight of a woman on her knees and weeping.

The Faunus was beside her in an instant. "What happened!"

"A- a monster." The woman sobbed. She was bleeding Yang realised, long talon marks had sliced chunks of flesh from her arm and she looked sickly pale. "It- it took my husband right in front of me in its claws. Oh god!"

"Where did it go?" she asked, kneeling beside her and taking a roll of bandages out of her backpack. People were surrounding them now, having heard the scream themselves, and now her story.

"It went towards the trees." She cried. "I-It flew into the forest with him and, I saw it tear him in half before it vanished."

Yang glanced in the direction of the forest to the east. She stood up, leaving the scene of the crying woman behind her as she fainted. Sun and Neptune followed.

"You're going after it aren't you?"

She sighed. "Yes Neptune, I'm going after it. Alone preferably."

Sun shook his head. "Nah, not happening. We all know how the Grim have been getting worse and you want to go by yourself? We'll watch your back."

Another sigh. She could tell this wasn't going to lead anywhere, bar physically knocking them out she wasn't going to be able to convince them to leave her be.

"Fine, but you follow my lead alright?"

Sun sent her a salute. "Yes ma'am."

It didn't take them long to reach the treeline, though when they did Yang wasn't too happy about it.

"it's too dark." She muttered. "Sun, can you see anything?"

"Sorry, I'm not that kind of Faunus."

"Of course you're not," she grumbled. "Fine, then I'll guess we need some light. See if you can't take a branch a burn it for now, we don't need much."

"You don't sound like you _want_ light."

"I don't, it means whatever this thing is it'll see us coming before we see it."

He didn't have a response for that, and a moment later it didn't matter as Neptune got the light up, holding it before him. It didn't do much, but it at least meant they'd be able to see three feet in front of themselves.

They readied their weapons. Yang led the way.

Her eyes flickered left and right as they walked. She didn't like it, not one bit. Too much darkness, too many trees, cover for something to jump out at them from.

They walked, for a minute, then for two, then for three. Still nothing.

Maybe she could…

Yang let her eyes flash red as she focused.

Belladonna's bloomed in her mind.

It irritated her, to think of them. It seemed like her trigger couldn't be changed, even if she wanted it to. So, she was stuck remembering Blake every time she wanted to use magic. It pissed her off.

Still, it had the effect she wanted.

Yang didn't so much get any better vision, but she could _see_ more.

Traces of something, wisps of multi-coloured smoke winding in front of her like a trail. And she could hear something, the whispers of a man.

" _My body… leave my body alone… Stop eating it…"_

She could smell it too. Blood. Whatever it was, it was eating the remains of that woman's husband

She turned to face them. "I can hear something; come on, this wa-"

She didn't get any further as something _burst_ through the trees. She gasped as sharp talons closed around her waists and yanked her into the air.

Sun yelled out her name but she was suddenly too occupied to reply. Razor sharp blades, that was what they felt like, and it was only her Aura saving her from being cut in half.

She didn't even know what it was attacking her yet but she unloaded a couple rounds of Ember Celica into it all the same. She felt it hit _something_ and a terrible screech came that nearly shattered her eardrums.

It didn't so much drop her as it did through her right into a tree trunk. She coughed as she hit it, but dived to the side as those talons speared where her head had been just a second before.

Sun's gunchucks did a good enough job at hitting it from afar, and it shrieked again as it hopped back.

She could see it now properly.

It was about twice her size and stood on two horribly warped legs, with putrid and decaying scaled across its body and feathery black wings. It had a lizard-like tail and green-oozing talons longer than her arms.

And a freaky looking rooster head.

"What the hel is that thing!?" Neptune cried.

"Cockatrice." She yelled out, priming Ember Celica once again. Mirark had failed to mention where exactly it had been spotted. Go figure. "It's poisonous, whatever you do don't let it cut you."

She charged at it as it opened its mouth and let out another ear-piercing sound. She silenced it a moment later as she smashed a fist into its beak.

It flinched back before snapping out.

Yang sidestepped it and sent a right hook at its throat.

Again it flinched a little but other than that ignored the blow.

Her eyes widened right in time to see its tail whip around and slam into her back, sending her careening away.

It made to chase but Sun was already on it, beating back its face with his staff as Yang managed to get her feet under her again.

Neptune came from behind and stabbed his trident into its back.

Again, another flinch, another screech, but it didn't stop it from knocking the teen away with a painful looking smack. Neptune wobbled. He couldn't take the same punishment as yang could, neither of them could.

They were hurting it Yang realised, but not enough to do any serious damage.

The things scales were protecting it from any lasting damage. They were all over it, even under the feathers on its head!

She growled to herself. She needed to think. What could they hit that wasn't protected by scales?

The obvious answer came to her right away.

No matter how important scales were for defence, they were too stiff and heavy for flight.

"Aim for the wings! Clip its wings!"

Sun didn't even reply, already jumping up above its head and swinging the butt of his weapon against one of its wings.

They were instantly rewarded with the creatures stumbling back in pain.

Yang lunged.

The Cockatrice saw her coming and flapped its wings, rising up to slice her with its talons.

She raised her right arm and pushed forward as it sparked against the razorblades.

She lashed out with the same hand, fingers clamping around one of those razors.

And her hand burst into flames.

The shriek was different this time, it was a sizzling, pained cry as it struggled against her strength. It's feathers burned and scales ashened as it writhed back and forth.

Yang expected it to keep up that futile attempt for freedom like any animal would, instead she realised too late that it was smarter than that, and lashed out with its free foot.

Yang gasped as it collided with her chest, Aura flaring as she was batted back, this time hitting a tree with enough force to splinter it.

She propelled herself forward via Ember Celica before she could even hit the ground.

She needed to take the hits, keep it focused in her else it might turn on Sun or Neptune.

She roared. "Bring it!"

If the thing understood her, it responded with another shriek.

Yang growled, ducking under its beak as it struck out and delivered an uppercut to its chin that shook her arm, but no doubt stunned the thing.

She heard the sound of electricity as Neptune let out a shout and the next thing she knew the Cockatrice's tail flew by. Neptune had gotten a lucky hit and severed it.

Looks like he held a grudge.

It wasn't done though, and Yang saw it coming too late.

She cried out as those talons clamped around her again and she was lifted off her feet, not thrown this time, but dragged straight up into the air.

Above the trees.

Up and up and up it went with her in its grasp.

"Oh shit!" she hissed. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"

Her hands gripped the talons digging into her. "Agh you fucking oversized chicken you think you can just drop me? Fuck you and your feathers!"

It cawed, but more so in surprise when she grunted and _pried_ its talons open.

It shook, or tried to shake her off. They were nearly a hundred feet in the air now, and still climbing. The fall might kill her if she wasn't careful.

With another grunt she was suddenly free, but instead of letting herself fall, kicked at the air in front of her, swinging her body upwards.

She twisted her hips and clamped one leg around the Cockatrice's neck.

It dipped down as her weight sent it off balance and swayed side to side.

She reached up and shoved her hand into its face for it to erupt into flames.

The blast shot its head backwards and the creature flapped desperately to maintain its height.

Then, with her other hand, Yang grabbed it's wing and _yanked_ as hard as she could.

There was a crunch as her hand crunched the bones within the limb and both went spiralling back to the earth.

Yang didn't let up though, hammering blow after blow into its spine as they spun and twisted, all the while climbing over it, pushing it down below her.

They slammed into the ground together, the earth beneath the Cockatrice fractured and fissured, and before it could move again, golden clones fell atop o fit, keeping its body pinned. Yang planted a foot on it's back and _tore_ off its wings.

It screamed louder than any other time before, as blood not black but red flattered over the brawler.

With one last roar, Yang put her flaming fist through its skull, and it died.

The forest was quiet as the three off them panted tiredly. Surprisingly, at least for the two males, its body didn't dissolve.

It wasn't a Grimm.

It looked like a Grimm, black as one and with bright red eyes.

But now that they got a look at it they saw now white boney plates.

That's wasn't right though. It had those similarities and it was smoking like one. If anything it was like it had been _infected_ and was turning _into_ a Grimm. However that worked.

Was the crazy amount of magic suddenly appearing doing more than just bringing these things back?

Then Neptune spoke.

"What the hel is this Yang?! What's going on?"

The blonde managed a laugh as Sun voiced his own concern.

"Yeah that thing nearly killed me. Mind telling me how you knew it's named. Cackatrice or something? And how did your hand go on fire?"

Well, this was a difficult situation.

But, they'd helped, and probably been a part of saving her neck.

So…

"What's your favourite fairy tale?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

It didn't take long for them to get back to the inn. Yang got a table and the three of them sat around it. It gave them some privacy, as well as drinks.

Ale again of course. Honestly Yang thought she might be developing a taste for it. It was no strawberry sunrise but it was fruity, as she liked it.

She took a sip, peering over the mug to glance at Sun and Neptune who were taking things… better than she expected honestly.

"Magic." Sun whispered, leaning back in his seat wide-eyed.

She snickered. "Yeah, I had pretty much the same reaction when Ruby told me… but that means you believe me, doesn't it?"

"Well yeah." The Faunus said. " I mean it's a lot to take in. but you're not the type of person to lie about something like this; besides with what we just went up against I'd be stupid not to. What was it called again? Cockatrice?"

"Yep." She nodded. "I got bored over the summer, so for a few nights I'd read about mythological monsters and stuff. A lot of it was pretty crazy, blows the Grimm out of the water."

"Ain't that another thing." Sun laughed. "you've got an entire library in your head. How crazy is that?"

"I don't _have a library in my head_." She said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. "I just have an access point. It's all really complicated, like some sort of metaphysical plane of existence you can only access with a mental key."

"Sounds it." He agreed. "but it could be useful right…. Especially if you're serious about taking up the job."

She hummed. The 'job' he was referring to was thanks to the idea of the people in Airgrain had been more than grateful when she'd hauled the body back to show what she'd done. It had been a freight at first, but when they realised she'd saved them they'd been relieved and more than a bit grateful.

They'd paid her, and one woman and even commented how it was a relive that a bounty hunter had arrived when she did.

Right now, she was toying with the idea. She liked the sound of it, being a bounty hunter. They were no huntsmen, but they still had a reputation of being people you could trust to get the job done.

Not to mention their names tended to spread.

Something she wanted.

It was all well and good being a charitable hero helping people when she could, but if she took up this profession, it meant people would need to be able to pay her, they'd need to know her name to find her, and spread the word to others.

Something she needed.

"You think so?"

"Sounds like it." Neptune tittered. "I mean, you knew that thing was poisonous even though it was your first time seeing it, the first time _anyone_ has seen something like that is years. That sorta thing is something people learn by experience. If you could read up of a monsters strengths and weaknesses _before_ fighting it you could have an edge."

"Or find out what they are before even seeing them." Yang gasped, hand holding her chin as the gears turned. "I could look at markings, tracks and stuff. That woman's cuts could have given me a clue if I looked for them… good idea."

She'd be able to as well. Sun and Neptune already knew, but sometimes people took one look at her and assumed she was the stereotypical blonde without a brain. They still sometimes had at Beacon.

She wasn't, she was smart.

And despite how she acted she worked hard. Hard not to when he dad was a huntsman _and_ a teacher. And she was competitive in pretty much everything. Yang didn't like to lose.

Hel, aside from Weiss she'd had the highest test scores out of her team, much to the ice queens shock that the two of them usually scored so close. And Blake's too, when she realised Yang was actually better read than her, the Faunus having spent five years as a terrorist rather than having any form of schooling.

She pushed down the irritation at the thought of Blake and back to the matte hat hand

Remembering stores and learning magic from a grimoire was in the same category as that stuff. If she used the Odyssium it could really help her.

"So you _are_ thinking about it." Sun asked.

She nodded. "I need to keep attention on me. Something like this is good for that. If they have their eyes on me it means they're not on Ruby while she recovers."

"Great, so when do we get moving again."

"What?" she blinked, looking up at them. "No, it's just me. You can't come with me."

Her fellow blond raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"because it's dangerous." She frowned. "In case you weren't listening, people are going to be chasing me, I'm actively trying to draw their attention, and if I'm going to take up this gig I'll be fighting monsters all the time."

"And helping people along the way." He grinned. "Listen I get it yang, it'll be dangerous, but being a Huntsman is already dangerous. Sure, Grimm aren't exactly the same but it's close enough. Besides, you're my friend, I'm not going to let you do something like this by yourself."

"Same." Neptune agreed. "Not saying you _need_ our help, but I think you'd be better off with us watching your back. Things are getting more crazy out there and like you said it'll be dangerous. Can't have you doing stuff like that be yourself with all that's going on."

She stared at them for a long while, and eventually, sighed. "You two are really serious about this?"

"Yeah!"

"And there's no way I can force you not to follow me?"

Sun laughed. "You should know by now we're not that easy to get rid of."

"Clearly." She muttered, before feeling a smile come on. "Fine, I guess if I can't stop you then that's that."

"So what do we do?" Neptune asked, leaning forward a little. "Are we going to move on to the next town?"

Yang shrugged. "Don't really know. I think I'll just go with the flow, take the roads and find out where I'm needed. I'm guessing there'll be plenty of people that'll need our help with all this pretty soon… but for now?"

She raised her mug. "Let's get wasted."

They joined her by raising their own and grinning.

"Yes Ma'am!"

* * *

...

* * *

 **So Yang gets her little party together and has perhaps the most stress free time of the four girls so far.**

 **So far...**

 **anyway, this is mostly why I've been spending so much time of Sun and Nep's characters, to build them up for this. I like writing their characters, and I feel like they'd blend well with Yang personality even in Canon if the writers wanted to do it proper.**

 **Interestingly enough I heard Neptune's going to make a return in Vol 6.**

 **Personally I hope it's just as a Cameo. I like Neptune, but IU don't really see him having any reason for going to Atlas. it'd be nice if we saw him decide to help stay behind to look after the school though, so I'm excited.**

 **With this were also done with the prologues of part two and I'm ready to start kicking things up a little. Magic is back, and the Consequences of what happened at Beacon are belonging to show, as they will throughout part II. For what they are you'll have to wait and see.**

 **As I've said, things have come up that while not bad, mean that I'll be busy enough to the point where I'm not sure if I'll have time to write, so this one comes out early as an apology to that. then again, if I do get time you might still see one next week. Just a reminder of that one last time just in case.**

 **Hey, it means I'll have more time to work on the next chapter, maybe add a few extra things in.**

 **Hopefully it'll be worth it for you guys.**


	43. Collective: Part 1

**I know I said I didn't think I would have time to write this week, but somehow I ended up… having more time? Or, not more time, but when I did eventually sit down to do this, it was a lot easier than usual. Not going to ask why, just hoping it sticks around for a little while longer.**

 **So the Vol 6 Trailer dropped yesterday, and when I saw it I have to say I was excited. It looks filled to the brim with new locations and characters (That I might use in this) and all in all it's another volume. At least this time the trailer wasn't filled half full with nothing but character-shorts.**

 **I'll go into this volume with a optimistic sort of caution.**

 **Also… there looks like a scene where Team RWBY is ready to fight Oscar(Ozpin) and I'm really hoping for that.**

 **Also that old lady. There've been a few theories going around but the one I like the sound of the most is that she might have silver eyes and could teach Ruby some things.**

 **Here's hoping whatever it is is good.**

 **Anyway, onto talking about this chapter, the first of Part 2 out of the prologue.**

 **So, some with probably be irritated by the time-skip I'm opting to go for, understandable, but since a lot of time passed seemingly with nothing happening in Canon I thought I could either move the story along with bits and pieces referencing the passage of time. Or write some filler, and I'm not sure I could keep up any objectively competent levels of quality with that.**

 **But hey, if you'd like to see stuff like that there's still a chance for now. Either way for it's the method where you don't have to sit through a recovery arc.**

 **Honestly there's plenty of time. The time skip to Vol 4 was originally a year I think, but then M & K changed it to a few months, but since Vol3 ended with snow – so presumable winter – 4 started with no snow it realistically begins during spring.**

 **Then there's the travelling which takes them a few months, what I'm assuming is until the middle of summer since Volume 5 is the two months before Haven's classes start up again. (In September I'm guessing?)**

 **Honestly the lack of a timeline is what irritates me the most when writing about RWBY. No M & K you can't skip out on timelines. They help keep a plot together, not complicate it.**

 **And while you're at it you should have included more history. What do we really know about Remnant before the Great War? As far as I can tell next to nothing.**

 **Bah! I'm getting sidetracked, the imp[ortant thing to take away from this is that I realised canonically Ruby's nearly 17. So that's cool. By the end of Vol6 I would like them to address it, since it's the age she would have been if she joined the school without Opzin pulling strings.**

 **Also the others are all 19 now, so… adults I guess?**

 **We'll see how that works out.**

 **Yang and Blake better have a long talk or so help me…**

 **I guess we'll see next Saturday.**

 **Also, I'd like to give a mention and a thank-you to** JackTheSpades **for helping with this chapter. He translated some sentences here and there into German, and you'll see a few more in upcoming chapters. He did a better job than what I could have hoped to, so I just wanted to make sure I got that out there.**

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby struggled on as her body groaned in agony. Her lungs burned and her skin tingled. She grit her teeth, pushing past it with all her willpower, even as her limbs struggled to hold her up, and her right hang limply by her side she forced herself to stay determined.

She felt as if she was boiling, even as she knew it was just her body doing its best.

She was almost there, just a little more!

She pushed and pushed and pushed, and, as she reached it, let out a triumphant cry.

She fell onto her back a moment later, and raised a fist in victory.

Neo applauded animatedly.

Roman shot her a thumbs up from his sitting position on a tree stump outside her house. "Great work kid, ten push-ups complete."

"Yay."

She sounded sarcastic, but really she was ecstatic, considering it was the most she'd managed in the two months she'd had.

"Still though," the thief mused. "As entertaining as it is, five minutes for ten of them has a lot for potential improvement."

He let out a yelp as Neo thumped his arm and he shot her a glare as he rubbed it.

"It's true, I'm not saying it's bad but she'll need to work a lot more."

"Yeah, I get it." Ruby said, managing to sit up on the grass as she caught her breath. "But hey, it's an improvement."

Her throat was suddenly patched and Neo noticed, taking a waterskin and tossing it Ruby's way.

The teen reached out to catch it with her good hand.

She missed, and it fell onto her lap.

"It is," Roman said, watching her as she sighed, irritated at her failure. "If only a little."

The young huntress rolled her eyes, then winced as her body became less numb from the exertion and more aware of the earth beneath her. "You know, you don't have to be such a grouch Roman."

"Coming from you?" he shot back. "Considering how much of a pain in the ass this all is for you I'd think you'd be smiling a lot less."

"I'm getting better." she muttered, and she wasn't being contrary. Her body still hurt, badly. Sometimes she found it difficult to sleep, and sometimes she'd wake up because of it. Her right arm was still useless, and Ruby was having to come to terms that she might never be able to use it again… not the way it should. She still had spasms, she still felt weak and sometimes she'd drop something she was holding. There were a lot of broken plates thanks to that.

But that was the keyword, sometimes. She was managing to get a few nights sleep when she could just forget about the sensations, when her body was relaxed enough the spasms could be manageable and once or twice she'd even managed to catch the plates again before they hit the ground.

She could stand. By herself. Sure it took a while, her stiff and sore muscles almost made it an ordeal, but she could do it.

It was a minuscule, comically tiny step of progress.

But it was progress all the same.

"Yeah, relax Roman." Mercury snarked as he made his way over, a box of… something in his arms.

"What do you want kid? Can't you see we're busy?"

"No, Reds busy. All you've done for the last ten minutes is sit on your ass."

"You're point being?"

Mercury ignored him, turning to Ruby.

"Don't worry about your speed, you're doing fine. I'll tell ya it took me a whole three months before I could stand with my prosthetics, and all I did was lose them."

That… was technically encouragement, no matter how dark. "Um… thanks' Merc."

"Don't mention it, anything I can do to help."

 _Aaaaaand_ now she was suspicious. Ruby's eyes narrowed. "What's in the box?"

"…nothing."

"Mercury…. What's in the box?"

"Don't worry about it, it's fine."

Neo appeared beside him before he could realise she'd moved, and craned her head over the edge of the box. Her eyes widened a second later and she stared at Mercury.

Was that appreciation in her eyes?

Ruby assumed that was a bad thing.

"Mercury." She sighed. One word, but the teen slumped. "

Okay fine, I may or may not have caught some birds, tied them up and planned to release them in

Emeralds room for her when she gets back."

Ruby stared at him.

Roman stared at him.

Neo smiled at him.

"Why?"

"Em hates birds." He answered simply. "Apparently when she was scavenging for food in peoples trashcans as a kid she'd have to fight off birds going for the same food. She said they were the side of rats sometimes. I thought I'd give her a few friends to remind her."

"That's awful!"

"Correction, it's funny. Em'll only be mad for a while, besides it's payback for what she did last week."

Roman snickered. "You mean were she stuck magnets to your joints so you had to walk around like you had peg legs?"

"I don't even know how she found that many magnets."

Neo's casually whistling didn't do much to assure Ruby of her innocence.

She sighed. "Just, no. no birds to make fun of her life las a homeless orphan fighting for her life on the streets. Can't you think of something less harmful?"

"… is that a rhetorical question or…?

She just sighed again.

She didn't know how Cinder managed to deal with the both of them. If they weren't doing something for her or her dad the two of them were at each other's throats, either with things like this or a barrage of words Ruby could, but wasn't comfortable repeating, especially not in front of her dad.

At least she'd managed to dilute it down to pranks. Mercury was messed up, Ruby wasn't going to pretend otherwise, but he was willing to forgo skinning cats or something equally terrible as long as he could pull a practical joke on someone.

"Okay fine," he relented. "I'll think of something else. Hey Neo, wanna help me dye all of Emeralds clothes pink?"

The girls' wide grin was answer enough.

The walked off together, leaving her and Roman to shake their heads in exasperation.

"I swear, considering how many ways Neo planned on stabbing him just a few months ago it's weird how well they get on." Roman muttered.

"Isn't just that Neo though?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. What's that look for."

"Nothing." Ruby shivered."

"It's just that yesterday I asked Neo a question, and like, I obviously know she can't speak so I waited for her to sign it out to me but right before she did I knew what she was saying."

"You could understand what she was saying just by the mirage of looks she gave you?"

"YES!"

He laughed. "Don't worry about it kid, just means you're getting used to little old Neo. How do you think I talk to her? Same way. With all the time she spends around you, you'll be having full conversations with her in no time."

"But it's _weird_." She whimpered.

"You're right." He agreed. "Nobody should have that much power, nobody."

They held each other's stares for a moment, before spilling out laughter.

They could both agree:

Neo was a problem all of her own.

"So, where's your old man anyway? I saw him leave this morning after sending me the usual glare."

"Signal I think." Ruby shrugged. "Since it's right on the outskirts of the city it was hit badly. It's not infested with Grimm or anything but it has supplies like Dust they want to salvage in they can. Dad's going to help with it."

"You sure that's a good idea? With the Grimm being how they are it's dangerous for even pro huntsman if they're not serious."

"It's fine. "Dad's… well he's dad. He won't go into a situation too dangerous if he can help it. He's always determined to come back like mom didn't, that why he became a teacher at Signal instead of taking missions. Safer that way."

"Sure, sure okay." The thief waved off. "At least you know where he is. That's good."

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

"So… want to go for another ten push-ups? I'm sure you're up for it oh-great-huntress."

"Oh harr-harr, you should have been a comedian."

"I know right?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, turning away from him to get back to her exercises.

Laboured breathing filled the air again.

"So," she grunted. "You've been looking at getting your contacts in order again right? How's that going?"

"Badly." He sighed, fishing out a cigar and lighting it. "You don't realise until it happens how much we relied on the CCT network. Now that it's gone it's almost impossible to get in contact with people, and on this island I can't even look for them. The best I got was from an old fence living on the coast of Vale when I went looking last week. Everybody's went underground and they don't intend on resurfacing until things blow over."

"But they won't blow over, not like they think they will."

"Yeah but they don't know that." He spat to the side. "You keep forgetting the little circle you're in Red. Most people don't know anything about the outside world now, at least we have a few leads."

"I guess so." She murmured, managing her fourth push up with a grunt. "Ugh, why is this so hard!"

"Relax will ya Red, it's not that bad, at least you can manage this after all you've been through."

"Easy for you to say," she glowered. "It's kind of hard not to hate this when I was training to be a _huntress_ and now I can barely support my own bodyweight."

"And it'll get better." A new voice replied.

The duo turned as Cinder and Emerald approached. The green haired girl held a pretty big crate in her arms, full of stuff Ruby couldn't see from her position of the ground.

"Hey Cinder." She said, deciding that the work she'd done was _probably_ enough for now. There was a noise behind her and Zwei suddenly zoomed past and up to Cinder, running circles around her legs as he barked happily.

The fire user gave an amused look down at the canine, reaching to scratch behind his ear as she spoke.

"We've managed to get a few things from in town that could be useful but I think we all need to discuss something. Emerald, could you go find Mercury wherever he is?"

"He's with Neo inside the house." Roman supplied.

"Sure." The younger thief shrugged, setting the boxes down before walking off.

Ruby sat up, crossing her legs beneath her as Cinder lay down of the grass, the little corgi quickly claiming his spot atop her.

"So what's in the box?" she asked curiously.

"Materials." She answered, still stroking the dog softly. "Fabrics and the little Dust I managed to scrounge together. I'm thinking of, well an outfit change."

"Really?"

Cinder nodded. "Yes. I was wondering if you wanted one too; your combat gear was… damaged during the fall. It would probably be best if you got something new. Not your cloak obviously;" she added before Ruby could protest. "But even that will probably need some extra stitching."

"Yeah that sounds good actually." Ruby nodded, resting her head on her good hand as her other dropped to the side. "I forgot you could sew actually."

She scoffed. "Considering how little you and Qrow seemed to care about maintenance when it wasn't a weapon I'd think it hard to forget. I was always looking after you two."

" _Eh._ "

"What do you mean _eh?!"_

Roman snickered at Cinder's affronted face, resulting in her shooting him a glare. He ignored it.

"So that's what you've been doing then Cindy? Trying to make some pretty clothes?"

She scowled. "Of course you'd think that Roman, considering your gaudy fashion sense you probably don't even know how Dust weaving works."

"Oi!" he yelped. "I have great fashion sense thank you very much!"

Ruby frowned. "Dust weaving… what's that exactly?"

Cinder paused for a moment. "Well, do you remember back during the Beacon dance, when you discovered me in the CCT tower and I was wearing-"

"That back outfit." Ruby nodded. "Yeah you used it to infiltrate the school."

"Yes, but it had another function. You weren't supposed to be there obviously, and once I was done I planned on slipping back to the dance. For that purpose it could also become a dress."

Ruby made a noise of understanding. "So Dust weaving basically means manipulating clothes right?"

"Yes. I can infuse Dust for combat into it, but the more practical part for our situation is that it can be two outfits, preferable more sturdy travel gear for us."

"Cool. That would be-"

" _I'll kill you both!"_

The three of them turned in time to see Mercury and Neo _dive_ through a window, clamber to their feet and keep running, as a very angry girl with _very_ sharp blades chased after them.

Roman sighed. "Looks like they found some pink dye I guess."

Ruby blinked as Mercury and Neo spotted before and leapt behind her.

Emerald stopped as she came up, growling menacingly. "You two dyed my clothes."

It wasn't a question so much as a statement and the thief sounded more than a little murderous about the fact.

"You weren't supposed to catch us in the act!" Mercury yelled over Ruby's shoulder, not so much apologising as making it worse. It just made Emerald growl louder and tighten her grip on her weapons. She didn't move though.

That's when Ruby realised.

"You're using me as a human shield!"

"Damn right he is!" Emerald yelled, pointing her weapon at him and by proxy her. "Damn coward, hiding behind a crippled girl because you don't have any balls to face me properly!"

"What's the big deal it was just a little bit of pink!"

"I _hate_ pink!"

"leave him alone Em." Ruby sighed.

She stared at her with a hint of betrayal. "What!? You're siding with _him?_ "

Ruby shook her head. "No, there's just no point in hurting him over it. You can always just get him back. I'll help."

"Oh gods." Cinder shivered. "Please no."

Emerald blinked at Cinder's reaction before glancing at the younger girl suspiciously. "What can you do?"

"Please no," Cinder continued to mutter under her breath. "The flashbacks, oh gods the flashbacks."

"I may or may not have pulled a prank of Cinder once after she embarrassed me in front of my Uncle one time."

"It was an accident!"

"He confiscated Crescent Rose for a week Cinder!"

" _I said I was sorry!"_

"Anyway," Ruby said, turning back to Emerald. "It's kind of a long story but it involved some duct tape, a zip line and a barrel of fish."

"You are _not_ allowed to tell them that story!"

"Fine," she sighed. Though it wasn't too convincing when she leaned over to Emerald while promising. " _I'll tell you the story later._ "

The thief was silent for a moment. "Alright, you can help me get Mercury and the mute back."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Anyway," Cinder suddenly stressed. "Now that we're all here I think there are a few things we need to go through, mainly our plans for the future."

"Plans?" the younger girl blinked.

"Yes, like what we're to do to help you find a way to fight."

"What do you mean?"

Cinder sighed as if explaining things to a child. "You can't use your right arm Ruby. How do you expect to wield Crescent Rose without it? As good a weapon as it is, it's far too heavy. Not to mention it limits both offensive and defensive capabilities with you having only one hand you can use."

Ruby looked away, and Cinder felt a pang of guilt. "Ruby I didn't mean-"

"it's fine." The reaper told her, shooting her a forced smile. "You're not wrong, Crescent Rose was only usable because of all the practice I put in. having to relearn with one hand would be impossible."

"Only if you stuck to what you know." Mercury argued.

They turned to him and Ruby tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well you said your scythe too heavy for you right? Well just make it lighter, reshape the shaft so you can use it with one hand, maybe a grove or something that rests over the shoulder, and refit the sniper rifle with something with even more kick so you don't have to use all your strength every time you have to swing it."

Ruby actually thought about it.

"It... could work, maybe. I might have to switch out the material. I'd have to replace the titanium for Aluminium though, or maybe a titanium weave? Or an alloy of the two somehow. The blade would have to be changed too. It'd need to be bigger to compensate for less reach, maybe with a Dust overlay? But then how would I change the sniper rifle? Would changing it from anti-personal to anti-armour be enough?"

Ruby continued to mutter to herself, clearly going over the statistics of it. Roman raised an eyebrow but Mercury just nodded along.

"Right, but you can't just rely on your weapon, you need to add something to your fighting style. If you can't use an arm then maybe I could teach you a few of my kicks."

Neo raised her hands as if to volunteer herself. The silver-haired teen nodded. "Right, and Neo can teach you too, thrown in a few grapples and make you more flexible. You can do that right?"

Neo nodded. ' _I could teach her some high kicks, maybe she can learn how to use other parts of her body; knees, hips, stuff like that combined with her oversized garden hoe.'_

Ruby blinked. Roman snicker but the rest seemed not to notice.

Her face paled suddenly as she and Neo locked eyes and the mute caught her look.

Oh gods, she was speaking Neo!

"Before we get to any of that though," Cinder rolled her eyes. "We need to get you back to form, and then we'll move for Haven."

"Um… actually." Ruby murmured.

"Yes?"

"I… before we go to Haven I want to find a way to Atlas. We should find Weiss."

The maiden frowned. "The Schnee? Why? Surely you know the waste of going to Atlas of all places for one person."

"It doesn't matter, she's my partner, if I can see her even to make sure she's alright I'll take it."

Cinder's face twitched minutely. Roman was the only one to catch it, and it made him frown. He hid it well though, and turned to Ruby. That was something he didn't want to think about. They'd burn that bridge when they came to it.

"Well I'll see what I can find Red. Maybe I can dig up some info on where exactly she is. Probably she's all cosied up at the Schnee mansion though, so that should make it easier.

Ruby smiled. "Great, well I guess we should get started then shouldn't we? Oh! We need a cool team name!"

"What you have in mind?" Emerald asked."

"Something with all our names… Oh I know, Team CRRMSN!"

The statement was followed by a number of groans.

"Crimson… but… that's just another word for red."

"And why am I the only one with my last name used?"

" _It's not very original."_

"Of course you would choose something like that."

"Hey my last team was named Team RWBY gimme a break!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Long ago, the snow had been familiar to her.

Weiss was a Schnee, and for seventeen years Atlas was all she had known. The upper class, the parties, the concerts, the meetings, her home, all of it had been with the snows of Atlas as a constant part of her life.

And yet, as she stared at the snow through her tiny window to the outside world, Weiss didn't feel any familiarity.

In fact, all of Atlas felt wrong.

Or she did. She felt out of place here.

She wanted to be in Vale, with her team where she could actually feel at home, on a little cottage on Patch in the sun where a cool breeze could kiss her skin, and she could live out her life as a Huntress.

A bitter smile might have spread across her face, had she the energy for it. Instead, all she could manage was a vacant stare.

Oh sure she'd been defiant, something she probably should have felt proud of.

For the first few weeks.

But now, having seen nothing but this same room, sleeping, eating and _sustaining_ in this one place for over two months now…

Weiss felt drained from it a little bit more every day.

The door hissed behind her and heavy metal footsteps let her know that a certain executioner had arrived.

"Hello Weiss!" Penny smiled. "It is the scheduled time for lunch, I have brought you food!"

She sighed, turning to face her.

She felt her lip twist down in disgust – something unexplainedly dark – as she looked at the thing with Penny's face.

It was awful, looking at it.

Weiss didn't know what it was, but there was just something fundamentally different about her.

Penny… she couldn't deny that she'd been a machine, even at Beacon, but she'd been _different_. She'd been human. When Weiss looked at the Penny before her she saw a smile that was exactly the same, in every way, and yet was different, plastic and soulless. It was like she was programmed to smile instead of actually wanting to.

She stood the same, and yet her posture felt static. There was no liveliness behind it, where the Penny she'd known had a sort of bounce in her step.

And finally there was the eyes. She'd noticed it the first time she'd seen them; empty, like glass or more likely camera lens instead of an actual pair of eyes with a soul behind them.

The thing in front of her was soulless, and every fibre of Weiss being reminded her of that fact when she looked at her.

All the same, she was something with the apparent power to kill Weiss.

Penny probably had that power at Beacon, any Huntsmen or Huntress could have, but they'd been friends. Weiss knew Penny would never have done it, no matter what. She'd died for her.

This would kill her, if she became a threat.

So she resigned, and resigned herself once again to a false mask of politeness.

"Thank you Penny. I'll be there right away."

Penny nodded. "Of course. How have you been feeling today Weiss? Any signs of illness, increased aggression?"

"I feel the same way I felt when you asked me yesterday Penny."

"That is good." It wasn't, but she didn't voice her opinion. "Vital signs read normal. Have there been any episodes with your anatomy?"

Weiss held out a hand and watched as fire dust sprouted from her arm.

Weiss watched it as she always did, with a keen eye. What was happening to her was maybe the only interesting thing in this damn tower.

There was a little bit of a tingle, but instead of Dust bursting through her body like she'd expected it seemed to grow from her skin. Weiss wasn't exactly sure _how_ it worked other than the fact that it did. Crystals sprouted from crystals, wrapping around her wrist as she focused her Arua into it.

She let go suddenly, and the Dust crystals fractured, spouting small gouts of flames into the air.

"The same as before… no problems there."

"Noted."

Another sigh, and she sat down on her bed as a tray of food was placed on her lap.

It was excellent, probably the most expensive meal she's had since she' left Atlas a year ago. An example of how even as a prisoner she was afforeded luxuries fit of her status.

She'd have much rather had something cheap and greasy, like the time Yang had introduced her to a Valean cheeseburger.

She smiled at the memory. She remembered holding it in her hands uncertainly, sending it a suspicious look with no small amount of disgust. Yang had goaded her on, laughing about how a princess would never eat something like that.

So of course Weiss being Weiss she'd done it to prove her wrong.

It had probably been one of the best things she'd ever tasted.

Or… maybe that was because yang had been with her when she'd had it. The brute had acted like it was some great accomplishment, cheering her on the whole way.

It had been simple, stupid fun,. Something she looked back on fondly.

Weiss hadn't ever had that feeling at home.

If her mother hadn't been drunk out of her mind then her father had been away at a meeting.

She'd been what, ten when anything resembling a family dinner had stopped becoming the norm?

Weiss wondered if the reason the food before her tasted so… stale, was because of the memories associated with it? Was that why

Wishful thinking she was sure… she'd just have to get used to it now, it wasn't like anyone was-

"Another thing Weiss, your brother Whitely is here to see you."

"What!?" she choked. Coughing hard.

"Yes, I believe he is waiting in the visitation room on the twentieth floor."

"Why didn't you tell me straight away?"

"It was below the list of events I was required to inform you of." Irritation flared up, but was quickly snuffed out when she realised something.

"There's a visitation room in the tower?"

"Affirmative."

"Then…" Weiss frowned. "Why…Why is this the first thing I hear about? Why hasn't my sister visited me in these two months?"

"I am not aware. From what I can gather communication has been allowed but not approved by the eldest Schnee daughter."

"…I see."

"Weiss, I'm detecting emotional stress. Are you alright?"

" _I'm_ _fine."_ She snapped, standing up. "Come on, bring me to my brother."

The trip down was quick and uneventful. Weiss took an elevator down, but in the halls she noticed there were no windows. Everything was closed off, and the whole way down she spied cameras at every corner, watching her movements.

The visitation room was more like an interrogation room she noted as she entered.

Plain pristine white, no doors but the one she had just stepped through, and a table in the centre with a chair on either side.

There were cameras in each corner and Atlesian Knights armed to the teeth lining the walls.

Whitley sat at the other end of the table with a smile on his face, hands linked in a way that almost looked pleasant.

Almost…

There was something-

"Hello sister." he greeted gently.

She returned it with a nod, sitting down. "Whitely… I… wasn't expecting you here."

"I suppose not," he agreed. "But that would be my fault. So much has happened since your… incident that I have only now been able to schedule an appointment."

A reasonable excuse, and Weiss suddenly felt silly for doubting him. She was just so couped up in this place that it was grating at her nerves. "I'm sorry for that… things must be stressful."

"Oh they are, but I'm managing al the same. Father's been stressed, communications are down and Dust has been banned from being exported outside Kingdom borders."

"That sounds bad." She frowned. "How are people getting their Dust then?"

"They aren't as far as I can tell, tensions had risen to even greater highs since the attack on VAel. Mantel's representatives are calling for more to be done to protect them while the council pushes back. General Ironwoods called for a freeze on Dust related goods in the meantime as a precautionary measure."

A reasonable solution, but no less dangerous. "That makes it sound like he's coming down on people."

"Indeed it does. "I've heard from a few high-class associates of father accusing him of being a dictator, a tyrant, or in the makings of one."

"That's ridiculous!" Weiss gaped. "General Ironwwods a good man."

"Even though he put you here?"

Weiss' jaw clicked shut.

Whitley sighed. "I'm sorry Weiss, that was too harsh. Though, just so you know, father is deciding to back him for whatever reason. You'd think that sort of embargo would make them enemies, and I've heard them arguing, but publicly he's thrown in his support for Ironwood.

Another strange thing. Jacques Schnee was a shrewd businessman, an excellent one Weiss would reluctantly admit, but a supportive backer of Ironwood when he proposes and enforces a rule directly damaging profits? It didn't make sense.

"Strange… but I suppose that makes thing interesting at home."

"Among other things yes." He perked up suddenly. "Oh! I think you should know I was appointed the new heir of the company."

And that was what made Weiss still. "What?"

He nodded. "With you here and Winter unable to take up the duty due to military service it fell to me. It's certainly broadened my horizons I'll be making all sorts of changes."

"No." she whispered. "No, no, no!"

Weiss didn't care about the status, the money, the name or the power. But if she wasn't the heiress, she couldn't keep her promise. Her promise to change things.

Her promise to Blake.

Whitely suddenly smiled.

"Ah but that's a long while off I have plenty of time to plan thing out. Father is efficient with his workers, but he's missed so many opportunities by giving workers the chance to leave. "

Weiss stared.

"We should be crippling these scum with dept, force them to work day in and day out to pay us back… but that seems cruel to you doesn't it?"

Her brother leaned forward, close to her face with a twisted smile on his face. "I saw you in the Vytal festival sister, standing beside that Faunus so _proud_. Could you have turned traitor? Did she sink her claws in you? Or are you just that weak?"

"W-what?"

"Ah but of course you never thought of that. You're Weiss Schnee, talented, famous and have everything you could have ever wanted given to you. This little incident with Dust is perhaps ironic, considering your supposed mastery of it."

Weiss paled. "I-I-"

" _Shhh_ ," he whispered, laying a hand on hers. "It's okay. You may not be the heiress any longer, but you're still family. I'll try everything I can to bring you home."

' _ **Er lügt dich an!'**_

Weiss' felt her head split, like something was screaming inside her mind, sending her spiralling, trying to break out. What… was that? A feeling wracked her body, something playing on her instincts.

"You're lying."

Her brother stopped moving. He didn't pause, or freeze or stiffen. He just stopped moving, as if time had suddenly stopped for him.

And then he grinned, a grin that stretched across his face in a way she'd never seen from her brother.

"Cleaver aren't you?" a chuckled escaped him. "How quaint, how… amusing that you could see through such a tiny lie and feel pride from it. Alright, I'll tell you the truth."

Weiss recoiled as Whitley slammed both hands down on the table, rattling it with a strength a civilian shouldn't have had.

But no, she didn't recoil at that, but at his eyes, where instead of white, they were black.

They were sickeningly familiar.

"You don't realise the power the Schnee blood possesses." He hissed. "You're weak, like your sister, like our mother and even like father. You're all fumbling a game without knowing the rules or the players but _I_ do. I know the truth, the power I could be given."

"What are you talking about, you're not making sense."

"Magic my dear sister, actually, real, terrifying and magnificent magic. You just can't see it, the power we could have, the power I _will_ have _."_

She shook her head _._ "Whitley listen to yourself, what you're saying is ridiculous. Magic? That's something for children."

"Is it?" he laughed. "Perhaps I thought too much of you, if you're that ignorant to what's around you, to have never questioned what was in front of you. I saw it with but one look; that pet Faunus of yours. Could you not see what she was? Did you not question _how_ such a thing was possible?"

"I-"

"Or the brute, the cripple? Not flesh, not robotics, and yet you accepted it as just that!"

"Yang said a doctor gave those-"

"And you believed her? Are you really that dull? What am I saying? Of course you are, you the little naive princess who thinks her own ability is what got her this far." He chuckled. "I always thought it was amusing; how utterly pathetic you acted."

' _ **Willst du so ein solches Vergehen gegen uns etwa durchgehen lassen?'**_

She shook her head, trying to clear the… something. She wasn't sure, every time it appeared it whipped to the back of her mind so fast she could catch it, couldn't even remember what it said. "Yang wouldn't lie to me like that. She wouldn't, I know that if nothing else!"

Whitley sneered.

"Do you? Well then perhaps the most ironic of them all then, that silver eyed witch!"

"R-Ruby?"

"You don't even know that of all things do you? You don't know the threat she is to our blood, to our power that you commune with her, refer to her so casually. Father knows of her, the General knows of her, how do you think that is? The secrets she keeps from you, the lies she told you."

"No-"

" _Yes!"_ he pressed. "So many things she has deceived you with, so many dangers that could have been avoided if she had trusted you. She didn't though, did she? You didn't find out until after a knife was plunged into your shoulder!"

"NO!"

"Even now you don't know what you've awakened; you're so weak and childish that you are trapped in yourself, in this shell! I bet the witch is laughing at you even now, laughing at poor, little, mad Weiss!"

Weiss' chair scraped back as she stood. The knights surrounding her were alert instantly, raising their guns.

Whitely just smiled, as the darkness retreated from his eyes and he sat back down.

"The Black Dust you merged with is a perfect starting point for more power…. I do have to thank you for testing it out. I know how much is safe to use now."

"Why would you say all this?" she murmured. "If this could ever possibly be true how could you think it was wise to tell me about it?"

That smile again. "Who would ever believe you? Mad little Weiss locked away in her tower… no one else has come for you. Not father, not Winter. Both want nothing to do with you I'm sure."

Her hands clenched as something dark and angry threatened to rot her core.

' _ **Beruhige dich Gefäß, er lügt wieder.'**_

For whatever reason, Weiss felt her heart slow, and her breathing soften.

She turned away from Whitley, to the door. "I'd like to leave."

She could still hear the smile in his voice. It made her sick.

"Very well, I'll signal someone to take you back to your… abode for your own safety of course. Oh, but one more thing Weiss."

She didn't turn back, but he knew she was listening.

"I'll enjoy it you know? Everything I do to destroy your dreams, all your work, I'll bring it crumbling down and I'll love every second of it… weak little Døkkálfr."

She blinked. "What did you say?"

She turned back.

But… somehow he was gone.

 _Without even a trace._

Weiss was escorted back to her room shortly after and the sight of it again did nothing to improve her mood.

"Are you alright Weiss?"

"Do I look alright to you?" Was the snapping response.

Penny shook her head. "you do not. I read increased levels of stress and aggression from you for an undetermined reason."

"Undetermined?" she stared. "It's not _undetermined_. Didn't you hear what Whitley said to me?"

"Did he say something wrong? I was not aware."

"I…" Weiss trailed off. "What?"

Camera and audio footage shows your brother speaking pleasantly to you. He informed you of how well your family was getting on and that you were missed. He spoke about doing what he could to make your stay here more comfortable." Penny tiled her heard. "And then you suddenly stood up. That was e=when your aggression spiked… is that _not_ what you remember happening?"

"I-" she broke off. No, that wasn't what she remembered at all. Whitley had… he'd been off all the way up to his outburst. Was she seriously saying that Weiss had imagined all of that?

No, that wasn't possible, she refused to believe it!

But what could she say? Clearly facts were against her more than anything.

Penny noticed her inner turmoil it seemed.

"Are you alright Weiss? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Weiss felt her frustration surface. it had building for a while now, but that meeting with her brother… had pushed her patience just a little too far.

"By doing what?!" she snapped. "What could you possibly do? You're a machine, you're not even a person! You're just metal and wires. Worse, you were designed to kill me!"

"That's… not true."

"Isn't it?"

"I…" something flickered minutely behind those eyes of hers.

And then they dulled. "You are correct. That… is my designation."

The machine paused. "Excuse me Weiss. I have things I must monitor. If you require my assistance just call for me."

Penny bowed, before quickly turning, leaving Weiss alone.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The computer flared to life with a bright light illuminating the otherwise dark and empty room.

It's robotic, automated voice spoke.

"Greetings P.E.N.N.Y. Please state the purpose of using this terminal."

The machine looked up at the array of screens. This was a machine too, in a way, it was similar to her. it had a fiction, and it carried it out. It was empty, direct, efficient like her.

And yet, Penny had felt some blip in her code in her conversation with Weiss. She was unsure what it was. Diagnostic had come back with everything in order.

And yet…

Penny knew it wasn't the time for it, practically, it was unnecessary for her to do this, but she…

Machines did not want. So what could it be?

It… It was simply the solution with the best reward. Yes, that was it.

"I wish to download the memory files of P.E.N.N.Y. mark one to my own memory core."

"Affirmative. Verification is needed: please state the reason for transfer."

"Ability to interact with Weiss Schnee can be improved with memories of my predecessor. Better relations through shared experiences can benefit relations and possibly decrease the risk of volatile reactions in future situations."

There was a pause as the computer processed her words. It wasn't as advanced as her, it needed to verify her statement.

"Affirmative." All none-classified and declassified Memories are applicable for download. Standby for transfer."

"Affirmative."

Penny felt the data fill into her files, the equivalent of what a person might consider their mind.

She nodded to herself. Now she could perhaps fix things. She could start at the first day she arrived at Beacon."

"Initialising reading of data." She muttered.

It would play out like a movie, inside of her, yet she would experience it… it would take a while. Days, weeks, maybe even months depending on how much the previous Penny had deemed important.

And yet, right away, a single phrase formed in her memory.

" _I have a soul."_

What did her predecessor mean by that?

* * *

...

 **What indeed. Well we'll find out eventually wont we. Like I mentioned, a little bit of a time skip, and one or two more to come. But hey, that means new outfits right?**... **that I'll only be able to explain through words...**

 **Damn I wish I could draw.**

 **But anyway, We'll see how the rest of our girls are doing next chapter and get a move on. I'm looking forward to a very certain moment, one involving our favourite feathered Huntress and her tribe.**

 **Until then I guess all I can do is ask you to follow and favourite if you want to be notified and keep up with this story and Review if you want to get involved.**

 **Until the next one!**


	44. Collective: Part 2

**So... this chapter's a little late, mainly because I wasn't quite happy with it. I redid it more than a few times, though in the end I managed to come to something that I'm at least moderately happy with. IU might still come back and change it later, but for now here it is.**

 **On the RWBY side of things, Vol6's first chapter just dropped. I got to see it on Saturday being a first member and… I liked it. I readlly really liked it. Really, I'm not sure what to think about myself. I consider myself at least a moderately fair critic, but any time it comes to watching RWBY the first time at least I can't help the shakes. I get really into it, you know?**

 **Anyway, won't talk about it here since it's only fair that I wait until everyone gets to see it, nut I think more than a few people will be happy with the action we were given, as well as general visuals and the like.**

 **still, we all thought the same with the first two chapters of Vol 5, so a cautious optimism still. I'll look forward to it all the same and since the intro is up on you tube I can at least talk about that.**

 **mainly the old lady, Ozpins past and a particular blonde woman...**

 **I hope it's not Salem.**

 **Because I mean seriously, if Salem ends up being a spurred lover or something I will seethe with ungodly amounts of rage.**

 **I mean, I'll put a prediction down saying she used to be human, I.. have a road I'm going with that even in this story, but if she and Oz got busy and now she's mad then so will I be.**

 **Salem needs her own character damnit.**

 **I suppose I'll wait and see. if anything, I'm just excited for new characters to add to this little journey. Usually my stories are more freeform. I have a beginning, an end, and a few scenes or events I decide must happen no matter what, but the rest is up in the air, makes it easier that way.**

A **lso Neo, the scariest fuckin mute on Remnant is coming back y'all!**

 **if her and Cinder team up we might actually get so amazing characterisation for both of them.**

C **an you imagine them as their own faction gunning for Ruby in revenge? It would be amazing.**

 **...**

* * *

"Can you tell what's been a thorn in my side Blake?" The dark-haired Faunus blinked, turning to the older woman. They were alone together, in her home or about as alone as they could be one such a small island.

A fact that was becoming quite clear to Blake for the last while. Too many people in such a compact place.

"Is it something dad said?"

"Yes…. Or at least what Ghira is refusing to do."

"And that is?"

"Listen to reason!" Sienna sighed. "Blake, you've seen the problems Menagerie is facing, haven't you?"

She bit her lip. "I have… we're low on food, lien and usable land thanks to all the Faunus flooding in over the months."

"Exactly. Even after establishing checkpoints to try and at least slow the flow of people it hasn't been enough. We just can't keep up with the demand."

"And dad is being a problem?"

The tiger Faunus scoffed. "Not with that, amazingly, though we'll get to that, you're aware of the…. Disappearances aren't you?"

She was: for the last month Faunus had been vanishing nearly without a had been one or two at first, something for the police force on Menagerie to deal with. Then. Four or five, six, seven eight and so on. It hit the double digits and still no one had a clue as to why.

Crime wasn't exactly common in Menagerie, at least not before the White Fang had arrived to shake things up. Now moreover, with low food supplies and overcrowding, it was starting to pick up.

Then the White Fang themselves realised they were missing a few of their numbers.

Thirty, thirty people missing and nothing to tell people what had happened to them.

Nothing but a few splashes of blood.

Blake feared the worst.

"I know of them."

"Well Ghira doesn't want us to do anything." Sienna growled. "He's worried of starting a witch-hunt looking for the culprits, which I could understand if this showed any signs of stopping. He says we should leave it to law enforcement here."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you basically the new law enforcement here?"

Sienna scoffed again. "Quiet you."

She knew what she was talking about in any case. Sienna might not have pushed for it, but the White Fang was a fighting force that had planted itself in Menagerie. They were a power now, and even if they were under Sienna and not the Chieftain of the village people saw them as what was essentially the armed forces here. In that way, though people were still rightly suspicious, most were fine to look to them for protection.

Blake sighed. "I understand. Even if you think it's the right thing to do you can't go against dads word publicly… it might cause _another_ civil war."

"Exactly." She aid. " _Something_ needs to be done, sooner rather than later tensions are getting worse underneath the surface even if your father can't see it I keep pushing for action by Ghira just _pushes_ back each time… it doesn't help that Kali is supportive of him no matter what."

"Isn't that a good thing for a couple?"

"Don't be ridiculous. If two people agreed on everything they'd never make a proper decision. Kali is a good woman, but she refuses to go against Ghira's decisions even if she knows their wrong."  
"What is she doesn't?"

"Huh?"

Blake sighed. "People don't always realise they're making stupid mistakes… not until it's too late anyway."

"You sound like you- oh…"

She managed a rueful smile. "Yeah, count the White Fang as just one of those mistakes."

Sienna fell into silence for a brief moment, thinking to herself.

"So what should I do then? To get your father to see it my way I mean."

"I don't know." She shrugged. "But You're talking with him tonight aren't you? I'll come with you, see if I can't help you convince him."

"… I appreciate it." The tiger laughed. "At least I can get on well with one of the Belladonna's."

"Looks like it." Blake agreed. "So what to do now then?"

"I would be thankful if you could come with me to go over the men again. If you could."

She sighed. "The recruits again?"

"And the more veteran of the Fang."

"Sienna, you know they're not much better."

She didn't mean it harshly, but it was true. The fact was that the White Fang Sienna had brought with her to Menagerie weren't the elites like she had said, at least, they weren't any more. At best, they were above the average grunt, filled with more determination and grit than skill and experience."

Sienna didn't refute the point. "It couldn't be helped… my best died to make sure I made it out of Mistral alive."

"…right… sorry."

"It's fine." The White Fang leader waved. "What's done is done, you had no part in it. You will come with me though won't you?"

"Will Ilia be there?"

"She will."

"Then okay. Lead the way."

The so-called training ground as it was, was in fact no more than an open field.

It had a rifle range and plenty of open space but other than that it was pretty much lacking in any sort of quality.

Menagerie wasn't a military power, it just never had the reason or resources to invest in any sort of foremost defence or arms, that much was clear.

There were about twenty or thirty Faunus spread out across the field, in pairs sparing while Ilia and a few other veterans oversaw them on a ridge.

The two feline Faunus made there way over, and when Ilia saw them coming she shot Blake a little grin.

"Glad you decided to finally join us."

Blake rolled her eyes in good humour as she came to a stop beside her, Sienna on the other side. Ilia nodded. "Ma'am."

"How are things progressing?" the older woman asked, scanning over the recruits.

"Better, than I expected anyway;

"You have low expectations."

"True. I'm not much of a frontline fighter, you already know that though."

Blake sighed. "I suppose we should get started then shouldn't we?"

The other two nodded as she hopped down to the ground and sighed.

A few looked her way but a bark from a veteran reminded them not to lose focus. Blake ignored it. That wasn't really what she was here for.

She looked around, eyes scanning the few dozen Faunus slowly. She wasn't exactly great material for teaching. She'd learned the practical way, mud and blood. The best she could do was give these recruits a few pointers, tell them where they were going wrong.

Speaking of which.

She made her way over to a Faunus holding a spear in a way that he might have ended up stabbing himself in the foot. She shook her head as she spotted the familiar ram horns. "Mata, what are you doing?"

The young man blinked for a moment before realising who it was that had asked him and straightening up. "Miss Belladonna! I'm, practising?"

"Not like that you're not." She said, standing beside him now. "Show me your stance."

He did so, holding the polearm before him.

Blake sighed. "How many times have we been through this Mata?"

"O-oh! Right, sorry." He coughed, crouching a little lower, widening his stance.

"Don't hold the spear in front of you like that." She told her, guiding his arms. "If you hold it like that then as soon as you hit any kind of force you'll impale yourself."

"Right."

"Don't lock your joints."

"Yes ma'am."

"Eyes forward."

"Uh-uh."

"Show me a thrust."

He nodded, doing as he was told as Blake watched. He stabbed at the air. She didn't speak. He did it again and she watched.

He did it again. And again. And again.

"You need to push further. "She said. "You're wasting the reach of that spear."

"Alright."

She sighed. "What is it Mata?"

"huh?"

"You're usually not this quiet. Frankly you talk so much it's a wonder the others don't find you annoying."

"Do you?"

"That's not important." She waved off." There's something that's got you thinking. What is it?"

He sighed, setting the spear to the side as he scratched the back of his head. "My mom found out I was doing this." He admitted.

Blake stared. "You… hadn't told her beforehand?"

" _No_ " he gasped as if she'd asked a particularly offensive question. "My mom would freak out if she'd known I was doing this in the beginning. Even now she wasn't me to stop.

"Really?"

"She's super overprotective like that. Doesn't even like the idea of me learning to defend myself."

"Did you tell her that's what you're doing here? Just learning to defend yourself?"

"She doesn't believe me." He sighed. "She thinks I'm going off to do something dangerous and get myself killed."

"Considering how you use that spear I can't blame her." Blake quipped.

Mata groaned. "Am I really that bad?"

"No," she admitted. "But if your mothers worried about you then she has every right to be. You know that don't you?"

"I mean, _yes_." He mumbled. "I just… I wish she'd relax a little bit, let me do things on my own you know?"

"I understand." Blake nodded. "But she's not really stopping you is she?"

"I… no?"

"Then you're fine. She's just worried. Let her be worried and assure her you'll be okay. After a while of you not getting hurt I'm sure she'll calm down."

"That makes sense. I guess."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Of course it does. God, why des helping you defend yourself translate into dealing with your mother?"

"Because mothers are terrifying when you make them upset?"

"…Okay maybe," she relented. "We'll see. Forget about that now, get back to it, I'm going to work on some other poor saps."

"Um, when you say 'work' on what do you mean?"

Blake chuckled. None of them were prepared.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Tension built behind her shoulders.

Blake wasn't sure why, or how she knew what it was exactly, but she did all the same.

It was like a knot. A weight right on the back of her neck and she wasn't really sure what to do with it. This was important. It was really important and she was going to be a part of it.

No… no she was more of a bystander. She would sit and listen and if asked a question then she'd speak. She nodded to herself. Yeah, she needed to appear mature here or she might not be allowed to take part again.

It didn't help though how her left side _twitched._

As if it could feel her nervousness and was reacting to it. She swallowed, lifting the collar of her coat a little higher to hide the creeping lines making their way up her neck. She wasn't angry. She was calm, totally calm.

Now wasn't the time to make things any harder for herself.

She could focus on that later, right now wasn't the time.

… great, now she was repeating herself.

Thankfully that was put to a stop before it could get any worse as Sienna saw her approach. The tiger Faunus was stood outside the door to the living room where they'd be having their meeting.

Her dad liked comfort over formality after all.

"Good, you're here… are you alright?"

Blake sighed. "Yeah… yeah I'm fine. So, what do think we're going to talk about tonight?"

Sienna let out a sigh. "pointless trifle I assume."

The younger Faunus hesitated, shooting her a look. "You think so?"

"Probably. Ghira is… well you already know how he and I don't agree. Frankly I don't see what on Remnant there is to discuss. This missing's persons issue is all I care about at the moment but I'm sure he'll have some reason to avoid it."

"Well then I suppose we should get started then."

"Yes, I suppose we should."

And like that the time for pause was gone. Sienna stepped past Blake and opened the door before her.

A tiny part of Blake's mind complained about how big those doors were. Far too intimidating, far too large for indoors.

It promptly vanished as she caught sight of her parents.

Blake didn't know why she was nervous. She'd seen them every day since she'd gotten home.

And yet the sight of her mother and father sitting at a table with a sombre look on their faces caused her throat to clench up.

"Blake." He nodded seriously. Not an inflection of surprise in his voice. She didn't expect there to be. He'd known she was coming even if he'd kept his opinion on it to himself.

"And Sienna." He went on. "if the two of you are ready we can begin right now."

Sienna nodded, taking a moment to kneel down at the low table.

A table that separated her from Ghria and Kali.

Blake bit her lip as her left side… twitched.

Her mom and dad were on one side, together as a joint force.

Sienna was alone. She was alone at her side of the table for each and every one of their meetings.

They outvoted her.

They opposed her.

It was clever, taking into account what Sienna had said, how her mother always took her dads side on issues they disagreed on.

Clever…

But devious.

And not in a way Blake was completely happy with.

She felt a growl build in the back of her throat, one she pushed down with a momentous effort… it was devious, conniving and dishonest. They deliberately overpowered Sienna on these matters… but what had she expected honestly?

As much as Blake had loathed to admit it when she was younger, the White Fang was a dangerous force. Even in times when it had been peaceful it had the _potential_ to be dangerous. The Faunus had been hurt, wronged and angry at the best of times. A person had needed to lead them, had to understand those feelings, use them… direct them.

Here at this table, Blake saw two examples of how those feelings had been used.

Both had failed in her eyes.

She shook her head minutely.

Now wasn't… it wasn't the time. She could contemplate leadership later.

Right now, she was here to change that balance of power.

As much as she didn't like it, she would likely be opposing her parents tonight.

Which meant Sienna needed an ally in her.

She had to be one.

In the spirit of that, Blake moved to kneel at the table, besides the tiger Faunus.

A small show, but one all the same.

Ghira's brow creased ever-so-slightly.

The message was clear to him. She was with Sienna.

He cleared his throat.

"So, we have a number of topics to discuss before we get to the… main issue of tonight. I hope you don't mind but it might take a while."

Blake expected the older Faunus beside her to bristle at that. At not getting to the root, the most important thing first. Blake new she felt irritation at it. It wasn't her left side causing such feelings either.

Which was why she was surprised when Sienna simply nodded.

"Of course. I'm assuming the first thing will be touching on is Menagerie's supply lines?"

"Or lack thereof, yes." Ghira nodded.

"By all means go on ahead then."

The Belladonna's head nodded, but instead of speaking, glanced towards his wife.

"In terms of supply lines across the sea it's not a lie to say we have nothing to show for our efforts. Once again the loss of the CCT is placing a large amount of distrust on the Faunus population. Any traders big or influential enough to lend us aid are refusing to based on what the White Fang did to Beacon… Food seems to be our biggest issue, but the fact that our treasury of Lien is floundering doesn't entice them either."

She turned to Blake, and the younger girl was beginning to think they were explaining this for her sake.

"All the work we've had to put into extra residence, for the new arrivals, has stretched on thin on more than just the literal resources, but how we can afford to maintain them. That's not to mention our security has been left to a… the White Fang is considered a third party."

Sienna made a noise. "The transition could have been easier if you had made a public statement and threw your support in with us when we arrived."

"You know we couldn't have.. since hearing about what happened at Beacon, having Menagerie be openly supportive of the White Fang, especially since the world doesn't know if it's split, would bring the other kingdoms down on us."

A reasonable point Blake thought. It wasn't particularly wrong… but…

"Something still needs to be done about the divide." Sienna pressed. "Even if you can't weigh in with a statement of allegiances you can still ask the people to show some sort of hospitality."

Ghira frowned. "AS far as I have heard they trust them enough to protect them. "Sienna scoffed. "Yes, and that's about it. There's a separation in the two groups... expecting people to die in your defence isn't the same as treating them as equals. You especially should understand that."

Blake suppressed the urge to bite her lip as her dad made a face that hinted he was none too pleased with Sienna's words.

Were discussions between them always like this?

Had it been this way even before her dad had stepped down?

Kali sighed, muttering under her breath. Blake picked it up, though only through her left ear. Unbalancing her for a moment even as she pretended she didn't hear;

"We're going to have to go through this again."

And they did.

They spoke about the villagers. They discussed the food and Lien deficiencies and argued about their forces. They talked about housing, farming. Sustainability, Dust, weapons, travel, the growing wildlife problems.

It went on for what Blake was pretty sure was hours.

And through it all Blake listened, offering her opinion only when asked by Sienna.

It felt like her own father wasn't too keen on asking her for her thoughts, it seemed he'd come to the conclusion that Blake was firmly on Sienna's side.

It… wasn't completely like that.

Even if it felt like that.

Sienna and her just agreed on far more things being brought up even as her parents disparaged their words.

Frankly, it irritated Blake.

They didn't know how bad Adam was, Blake and Sienna did. They knew that bolstering their defences wasn't just some push for more power but necessary if the new so-called leader of the White Fang turned his gaze to the only Faunus haven on Remnant.

Peace was fine in wartime she thought, but now wasn't peace. And if they weren't going to attack they needed to at least defend their home.

Why couldn't her father see that?

It eventually got to the point though that Blake stopped caring about what the either of them were thinking. They were _still_ arguing by the time the moon rose up into the sky.

"You can't seriously be telling me you want to let Taurus get away with what he's doing!" Sienna growled, slamming a hand on the table. "We have to put a stop to him!"

Ghira crossed his arms. "And how would you propose we do that? Fight them? Start some kind of civil war on a larger scale? No, even if we were to consider that possibility we wouldn't have the people to fight him."

"We could!"

" _No_ , we could not!" he snapped. "The people of menagerie are people who've relinquished the fight. They've grown tired of it. Don't think I don't know about your band of… _'fighters'_ that you've been cultivating. Menagerie will not sacrifice its people for that. _I_ will not sacrifice people for that."

"Oh well you're doing an amazing job of that so far." She snarled. "Fine, if you're not going to focus on outside our borders then what about inside? What about people disappearing? Have you done _anything_ on that matter?"

There was a pause.

"Yes actually… I have."

She didn't know if it was the one of his voice, or the way he said it but Blake was immediately suspicious, to the point where she realised her eyes were narrowed in her father's direction.

"What do you mean you have?" Blake asked. "I haven't seen anything like that in town… there haven't been any searches that's for sure."

"I… have pulled a few strings."

"Ghira," Sienna spoke in a flat voice. "What did you do?"

"We can't risk sending people out to look for whatever or whoever it is causing these disappearances. We needed someone far safer for ourselves."

"Ghira. What. Did. You. Do."

"… I sent a request oversees to Vale asking for aid… a group of Mercenaries sent back a message saying they had accepted my request."

Sienna stared. Blake stared.

They both _stared_ at the man in disbelief. When Sienna spoke again it was barely a whisper.

"You thought it would be better to ask strangers to come to menagerie… than to let your own people handle their problems?"

"I-"

"Are you insane!?" she roared suddenly, shaking them all with her rage. Blake flinched back. Where was this coming from?

"After all that bloody politics with our supplies, with you saying we didn't have the Lien to get by you tell me, right to my face that you hired _mercenaries_?!"

"Sienna-"

"Don't 'Sienna' me Ghira. You're bringing outsiders to this island the last haven for Faunus on all of Remnant and you're bringing people we don't even know here? Do you have any idea the risks that could bring with it?"

"There are risks if we leave this matter unattended."

"That's what _I've been saying_!" Sienna practically screamed. "Let me pull together our own people to-"

"NO!" Ghira bellowed with a show of aggression Blake hadn't seen from him in a long time. It took the wind out of Sienna's sails all too effectively. He took a breath. "I will not risk people on a situation we aren't clear about. I have already decided on mercenaries… people… people we wouldn't mind losing if this is more dangerous than we predict it to be."  
Blake's skin shivered with a feeling she couldn't place. So that was his plan then? To use expendable strangers? It sounded… cold.

Sienna eyed him wearily. "Do… do you know _anything_ at all about them?"

"…A few things." Ghira admitted. "They are a group of three… I believe they have a Faunus amidst them, and instead of names I received titles: The Sage, The Trident, and The Berserker."

The tiger Faunus snorted, though to Blake's ears it sounded bitter.

"Practically charming names. I bet they're completely trustworthy don't you think Blake?"

"I…" Blake hesitated. "I don't know. I don't understand why you'd ask help from Vale… I mean, they were just hit by a major terror attack less than a year ago."

No, she did. Practically they were the only kingdom Menagerie could reach out to. Really, that said more about their poor situation than anything else, that a damaged kingdom was their best chance of aid.

"And, it's not only that, but with all the…" she glanced over at Sienna. "new people living here. I don't know if it's the best idea to bring humans onto the island, even with a Faunus at their side. I mean, can we even trust them to not harm anyone? They're mercenaries."

"Well… I believe they actually went by the term Bounty Hunter… which I know is more… reputable in some ways."

Blake sighed. I don't know what I'm supposed to say. You already when ahead and decided haven't you? Before you even brought up the conversation, before you asked or discussed it you went behind our – Sienna's – back and made the choice for us."

"Blake," her mother protested gently. "You know it's not like that."

In spite of that, Blake felt a flash of hot anger surge through her as she shot a glare their way.

Again, the divide between them was apparent.

"Isn't it? The two of you made the decision without anyone else's consent. Regardless of whether or not it might be the right one the consequences are on you now. If this is the way you ran the White Fang all those years ago I can see why there was a cry for change."

She'd had enough. Suddenly being in this room was too much for her.

She stood up. "It's late. We've barely discussed anything useful" she glanced at Sienna. "and I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

The other woman let out a breath and nodded, doing the same. "I will to. It's clear we weren't needed at this so-called meeting… I will be waiting for these Bounty Hunters to arrive, and if they fail, I'll carry out the search myself, with or without your permission."

There was silence as Blake stalked out of the room, but for the life of her she couldn't care less. Instead, all she could think about was how useless that had been.

Had that been what the White Fang had been like six years ago? Before that even? If it was, Blake was beginning to realise just how much they had all failed.

How they'd all wasted their time squabbling amongst themselves when a bigger issue was at play. If this taking sides business was all it had been back then, then it was the reason they'd failed to truly make a difference.

And again, Blake hated how it made her feel.

Disheartened.

* * *

…

…

* * *

The ship came into the docks that next afternoon. Obviously from her home Blake couldn't make out anyone stepping off, but even so there was no commotion, no crowd or even just a group of people making their way specifically to her home. She would have thought there would have been, for a bounty hunter that as.

"You okay?" Ilia asked, leaning against the railings.

Blake shook her head. "No… at least… I don't think so. This idea is… strange. I get why dad wouldn't want to send anyone after a group of murders in case they were next, but a stranger? How is that going to do anyone any good. Not to mention they're human."

The chameleon raised an eyebrow. " _You_ have a problem with that? I thought you were all friendly with humans."

"I… I am, and it's not that. It's just that bringing them here, to menagerie is a big step… Senna's just the extreme example but I don't think everybody is going to be happy with humans just suddenly appearing and taking money from our coffers, even if they know we need their help."

"Well at least _one_ of them is a Faunus right? Your dad found that much out about them at least."

"Yeah," she scoffed. "And nothing else. "I mean, The Trident, The Sage and The Berserker? Not exactly friendly sounding names. I don't know Ilia…. I'm just not sure we can trust them."

"Then we don't." She shrugged. "We keep an eye on them, give them the information they need to help, hope they can and when it's over they get paid and leave, simple as that."

Blake's shoulders slumped. "I suppose you're right. Sorry."

"Don't be. You're allowed to think about stuff like this isn't a good idea if you don't think it is. I'm just worried about how Sienna's going to react when she meets them. What do you think they're like anyway?"

"I don't know. Rough maybe? If they're bounty hunters I'm guessing they must be ruthless in their jobs. If they have a Faunus in their group then I'm guessing they're not racists at least, but I think I should get a look at them before my parents get close anyway."

There was a thump below her feet and they both startled. Her dad said something and a second later the sound of the front door opening below them could be heard, along with the chieftains loud greeting.

"Well I guess it's a little late for that now."

Blake sighed but let that one go.

"Come on." She said. "We might as well join my parents."

Ilia nodded and followed her as they made their way downstairs. She heard them before she could see them, voices, muffled through the doors but she could at least make out the words as her ears perked up.

"Nice place you've got here." One said, smooth and friendly, not what she expected exactly but there it was. "Big place too. You guys have servants here?"

"More like bodyguards," that was her mother's voice. "They're here for protection of… well us, but you don't have to worry. They're not dangerous to you I promise."

"Nah it's okay." Another voice came, slightly deeper but a whole lot more… chipper. Her and Ilia shared a look as they got closer. "It's kinda cool seeing it all. First time any of us have been to Menagerie. It's a little different than I thought it would be, a lot of people… more than a lot actually."

"Yes I know what you mean." Her dad said. "We're working on it as best we can but things have been hard. It's been even harder with these recent disappearances… we're hoping you could solve them. After you've rested of course, I can guess how the voyage must have been tiring."

"That would be nice." A third voice agreed. A feminine voice. A very _familiar_ voice. Blake's eyes widened. "Maybe we can talk about what's happened here over some tea?

She was there, Blake was at the door. She might have waited in any other circumstance, but that voice. She had to know! She threw the door open and came face to face with three people she'd never expected to be in her home.

Sun and Neptune stared at her wide-eyed, rightly as shocked as she was. They looked a little bit different. They stood a little taller, stronger, sharper. Sun wasn't wearing a simple white shirt anymore, but an open black jacket and shorts with an assortment of belts, buckles and pouches holding things she didn't even recognise. Some looked like herbs, other power and some dust. His staff was propped up against him, and one end looked like it was plated silver.

Neptune was similar in the changes to his colour scheme. He still had his red jacket, but the grey was replaced with black, and he was… armoured. Some kind of pauldrons and greaves were fairly new accessories.

They looked different.

But not as different as Yang.

She'd seen the thing she was wearing before. That black coat was worn by some of the people who'd tried to protect Vale. It looked like she'd given it an upgrade.

A breastplate peaked out from her coat, covering her chest and neck over her orange scarf that wrapped around her neck, chin and draped down her shoulder.

Ember Celica was still around her wrists, but she still clearly showed off her obsidian arm for all to see. Her boots covered her legs though, hiding the paired false limb.

Her hair was longer. Blake's first thought was how striking it was, more than ever. It was so much more untamed, spiked, roaring, like a mane; bright and wild and wicked.

Blake's eyes travelled down, to a thin scar across her cheek where Adam had cut her.

And then, she saw her eyes.

Blood red, and boring into her.

Her dad perked up at her arrival.

"Ah! I was wondering when you'd arrive. These are the bounty hunters I was talking about. Miss Branwen, this is my daughter B-"

"Blake."

He stopped, blinking. "I… yes. How did you…

He trailed off as he noticed Blake's stare. Her mother looked between them. "Do… you two know each other?"

"We-" Blake swallowed. "We were partners… back at Beacon."

"Really?!" Kali gasped. "That's wonderful then! We know at least then that Miss Branwen is trustworthy."

Wait, what had her mother just called-

Yang shifted, eyes not leaving Blake. "Do you know?... Belladonna… your last names… they're Belladonna, right?"

Ghira blinked. "I... yes they are. Why?"

"And is Belladonna a common name?"

"It is I suppose. I was just like everyone else before I started up the White Fang."

Yang _hissed_ so loud and angrily and volatile her parents flinched back in shock. So did she.

"Funny." Yang said, though she didn't sound the least bit amused… she sounded angry. "Blake failed to mention to me _that_ little part of her life… I didn't even know she was from Menagerie. "which is strange, considering her and I were… close."

There was an undertone there, one her father didn't catch right away, but when he did, he looked alarmed, understandably so, since Blake hadn't told them. She hadn't told them anything about her life at Beacon, she'd avoided it. But for Yang to bring it up here, so suddenly, so unceremoniously and cold.

His eyes flickered to her, as he suddenly picked up on the tension radiating from Yang.

Sun and Neptune were silent, listening. If anything, they seemed to be monitoring the situation now.

They were watching Yang's movements.

The blonde was tensing, fists opening and closing. Sun leaned in, saying something into her ears that Blake couldn't pick up and suddenly Yang took a breath. It was strained with a forced calm. She glanced up at her fellow blond and nodded. He stepped back.

It seemed to prevent the feeling of upcoming conflict… but not much else.

"I… wasn't aware of that."

"Of course you weren't, why would you be? It's not like Blake is a very truthful person. She lies, a lot apparently. Isn't that right _Blake?"_

"Yang I-"

The Faunus was cut off by a growl that came from the blonde's throat. " _Don't_ ," she snarled. "Don't even talk to me. Whatever you have to say I don't want to-"

The doors slammed open as Sienna stalked in. she growled as if to say something, but her eyes fell on yang before she could. She stiffened, before straightening up and narrowing her eyes at the human.

"So… these are the bounty hunters." It came out low, cold. Blake felt the threat there, in her words, in her movements as she stepped up, face-to-face with Yang not an arm's length between them.

Anyone else would have been intimidated.

Yang _should_ have been intimidated.

She wasn't.

"Sienna Khan." She grunted, acting for all the world as if the woman in front of her wasn't dangerous. "Leader of the White Fang. Funny, didn't expect you to be here."

The tiger's eyes narrowed. "And where did you _expect_ me to be human?"

Yang grinned. It wasn't a friendly one. She bared her teeth and Blake didn't fail to notice the feeling that suddenly pressed down on her, like that of a predator hunting its prey. It put Ilia and her parents on edge.

"Wow, that's funny. You know you sound like every other White Fang drone I've ever heard. _Human_ is that the best you can come up with? To answer your question though, I thought you'd be dead in a ditch somewhere, either from being assassinated after the massacre that was Beacon, or killed off by some other freak following your orders. Or hey, it was a wild guess, but I thought maybeyou'd be someone Grimm's bitch."

Sienna snarled. "What are you-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Yang chastised, wagging a finger. "No arguments in the client's house. In case you haven't noticed I'm not here for you. Fact is I don't really care that you're here so unless you have something useful for me I think you should get lots. I'm here to solve your little problem with the disappearances."

Sienna didn't like that, and her fists clenched angrily. "We don't need you."

"Funny, really it is. Maybe you can explain to me all the dead bodies you're going to have to bury when this is over."

Kali's hands flew to her mouth. "What?"

"I asked around town before I got here." Yang explained for their benefits, softer and more respectful that what she'd offered Blake or Sienna. "The first few disappeared months ago. They're dead, no questions there, but if there's blood like people have seen then my guess is they people missing weren't taken gently. I need to take a look at the places they went missing more first before I can help, but that's my first guess."

"I-" Ghira swallowed. "How about we look at them right away then? We can save the pleasantries for after."

She nodded. "That would be a good idea. Lead the way."

He did so, leaving the room with yang in tow. She didn't even look back.

Once they were gone though, Sun whirled around with a stony face and a mad look in his eye. "Do you have a death wish?!"

The seriousness in which he asked caused Blake to flinch back. "W-what? What are you- no, Sun what are you even doing here? What's going on? You're bounty hunters now?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "have been since the Fall. Listen I get that you're surprised about us being here, but I gotta say it now before you do something stupid; _don't_ talk to Yang."

"What?!"

"I'm sorry I'm confused." Kali stepped forward. Blake didn't fail to notice how Ilia had taken a few steps back, or how Sienna was currently glaring at the male duo. "I'm afraid I'm not up to date on my daughters' acquaintances. Who are you if I can ask?"

"Oh, right." Sun blinked, suddenly a lot friendlier like she remembered, seriousness put on hold for the moment. He reached out and shook her mother's hand. "The names Sun Wukong, this is my buddy Neptune Vasilias and the girl who just left is our leader Yang Branwen."

"You mean Xiao-Long." Blake frowned. "Branwen is her mother's name."

Neptune shook his head. "That's what she's called now. Don't say Xiao-Long in public, people might be able to trace it back to her dad."

"Trace it back?"

"It's complicated."

Blake's face fell. "Guys what's going on?"

"We can't tell you."

She scowled, Sienna however answered first.

"Can't tell her? It sounds like you have something to hide."

"Oh, gee really?" Sun drawled in a tone of sarcasm Blake had never heard from him. "Great job on that one miss. Yeah we have something to hide. Far as I can tell it has nothing to do with you though."

Sienna bared her teeth at that. "Watch who you're talking to boy. I don't take kindly to that sort of disrespect, even from fellow Faunus."

Sun paused, eyes roaming up and down the tigers form. If anything, he looked bored.

"Listen lady. I've seen, fought, and killed more dangerous things than you. Deadlier things than you. You don't scare me even a little. Besides, in case you forgot we're here to help."

"How exactly?" Ilia cut in quickly before Sienna could snap again. "I mean, what are you going to do about it?"

Neptune answered with a shrug. "Don't really know. All depends on what Yang sees. We'll work things out from there as we go from there." Then he sighed.

"Listen, Blake?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to give you some advice, I'd be a pretty good idea to follow it." He bore into her as if to press the point.

"Well, what is it?"

"Stay away from Yang."

She stared at him for a minute, waiting for the punchline. For him to say he was kidding and give her some actual advice.

But when she realised there wasn't one, something angry twisted inside her. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." He responded breezily. "I think it would be a good idea if you didn't talk to her let us do our job here without the two of you talking."

"She's my partner."

There was a pause as Sun sighed, turning, and walking away but not before giving a few last parting words. _"Was_ your partner… She's different now… and I hope you don't figure out what exactly that means."

* * *

…

…

* * *

A curved blade sang as a whetstone was dragged across its edge.

Sharper.

Wicked.

A girl in a red hood sat on a tree stump, one arm hanging by her side as a Scythe rested on her lap.

 _Shink!_

 _Shink!_

 _Shink!_

Eyes of silver were honed on the task before her, and yet they flittered as two figures approached her.

A man and a woman.

A monster and a thief.

A crook and a pyromaniac.

The girl didn't stop in her sharpening actions but her head tilted to one side, showing that she was listening.

"We've got everything we need kid. Whenever you're ready just say the word." The man said.

"All the necessary preparations have been made." The woman followed next. "The others are similarly prepared… whenever you decide, we are with you."

The girl paused in her motions, the whistle of her blade coming to an abrupt stop.

"It's… early." She mused, in a voice that sounded like it hadn't been active in a while. She hummed, hopping off the treestump, standing up as a red scythe rested on her shoulder.

"Should we start then?"

* * *

...

…

* * *

 **So yeah, not quite down with Blake's side of things yet, but Yang's got plenty left to explore, and with what's going on in Menagerie it should be interesting. Especially when they have problems rising up like poverty and a lack of food.**

 **Nothing could go wrong...**

 **Absolutely nothing.**

 **Can't give too much away though, you'll find out soon enough.**

A **nd then, we'll get into the meat of this arc, and it's something I've been waiting for.**

 **Oh boy.**

 **Once again, I wish I could draw though. do you guys know any people who do good RWBY commissions? I might just get desperate enough for them eventually.**

 **And I've been genuinely curious lately, how many of you would rather be a professional artist or a professional writer?**

 **I might do a poll on it just because, though next week, I hear there've been problems with hackings and all that on the sight if you go onto people's profile pages. so... yeah, don't do that here, just in case.**


	45. Collective: Part 3

**Bah! I've been sick for the last two weeks! I've barely been able to get anything down thanks to it! I'm still sick now and it's awful. I don't want to leave you any longer without a chapter so here it is. sorry I'm not saying more but right now I just want to get some rest. Maybe I'll be better for the next one and I'll have plenty to go on about then.**

* * *

 **...**

 **...**

* * *

Vale's forests were as dense as they were plentiful, great swathes of green on horizons for the kingdoms wildlife to inhabit.

For the most part, either due to the fact that organisations were intent on their desire to protect nature, or the fact that Humans barely had a real substantial presence outside their main cities, it was left untouched.

Thick undergrowth was common in such places, so much so that usually creatures beneath were nearly invisible to predators from above.

That made it a great tool to use for two Huntsmen stalking their target.

A monkey tail swished against the long grass as it's owner crept at a hurried pace, back and shoulder hunched, head down but eyes forward, scanning its surroundings. In their hand, a long staff, primed with dust and one end tipped silver.

Sun kept his breathing even and steady. Stealth right now was key. He needed to approach the target, but not engage it. If it was too strong for him, it might be too late by the time he found out for sure.

His companion came to a stop beside him. Bright blue hair wasn't exactly great when it came to camouflage as they'd realised a long while ago, so Neptune had stitched a hood to his jacket, which right now was coming in handy.

"So?" Sun whispered. "How close are we?"

"Not far… can you hear it?"

"Huh?"

"That…" Neptune paused, tilting his head to listen. "Snoring I think."

"So it's sleeping…" Sun mumbled. "You think that's a good thing?"

"You don't?"

"I dunno. Seems to me like it'll be pretty mad once we wake It up."

Neptune hesitated at that. "Yeah… I guess you're right. Yang's still on her way right?"

"Yeah. She was meditating when we left. Should be a few minutes behind us."

"Right. Then we should scout it out." Neptune said. "See what it looks like."

"Lead the way."

The blue haired teen did so, staying low as he moved, gun held close to his chest as he followed a noise that grew with every step.

It was heavy and rattling, to the point that both of them felt their bones shake a little. They shared a look. No point in stopping though. They needed to make sure the cost was clear.

They just had to be careful.

It was slow going at their pace, but eventually the two of them came upon the edge of a small clearing, where trees had been pushed aside and grass trampled.

And in the centre, from where they could see in their undergrowth, was a massive figure.

Mismatched, rotting, Grimm-black skin, gnarled fingernails and bursting pustules lined its flesh. It was huge, at least twice as tall as Sun and even from where they were crouched they could see how it's bulbous muscles rippled grotesque underneath.

It had a human-like face in the most far-reaching of terms; stretched skin, elongated fangs and a fat, pig looking face. It had a crooked nose, in package with filthy looking wards and hair practically soaked in grease and sweat.

It was _disgusting._

And that odour.

"Crap." Sun gagged, covering his mouth as if to force himself not to vomit. "What even is that smell?"

"People, probably." Neptune answered, already rapping a scarf around the lower half of his face, and pulling down his goggles. Sun wished it had some at that moment. It would've helped with the burning sensation in his eyes.

"You think so?"

"Considering the mess we say in the village… yeah."

"So… we know what it is exactly?" Sun asked. He'd hedged his bets on it being one of two, but even up close he couldn't really tell… this would be his first time seeing either.

Neptune sighed. "yeah, you were right. It's an ogre."

"How can you tell?"

"From that." The teen said, pointing to the trees, and the light pouring through the leaves.

"If it was a Troll it would have turned to stone as soon as the light touched it."

Sun hummed in understanding. He's missed that at first, but yeah, Ogres could move around during the day as well as night. Trolls were stuck being nocturnal all the time except the winter months. "You don't sound too happy about it. How come?"

"Ogres suit their name." he said. "If it was a troll we might have been able to reason with it. They're smarter, they can make deals with people according to Yang. Ogres just like violence and eating."

The Faunus winced. "Yeah… guess that sucks. Still, wouldn't we have had to fight the thing if it were a Troll anyway? It killed someone."

"Not if it was self-defence." Neptune argued quietly. "I mean, people out hear see everything that isn't themselves as Grimm. Not like they don't have reason to, but if creatura's have to defend themselves then we can't blame them. Remember that Dryad?"

He did. Two weeks back they'd been investigating a death on a woodsman living on the outskirts of one of the towns on the inner edges of the frontier. They'd been prepared for a fight with some dangerous monster. Instead they'd found a peaceful creatura. A dryad, weeping at the destruction of its home and how it had been forced to defend itself when the woodsman had seen it and panicked.

It had been… a sobering experience for them all.

Yang decided to let the Dryad go and neither of them had disagreed. They weren't too sure how thing were with the town now, but they didn't think they'd experience problems from that creatura at least.

In a way Sun understood what his partner was saying. A Troll was supposed to be an old, but wise creature, if dangerous.

But even if it had been Sun wasn't sure. They body they'd found had been…. Bloody.

He sighed. "I get it…. But we can be sad about it later. Right now we need to deal with it. You got what you need?"

"Of course." He nodded. "we just need to wait until-"

He was cut off as a grunt of wind washed over them. They stilled as the big thing shifted.

"Shit," Sun hissed. "It's waking up."

"Do we move?"

Sun felt his teeth ground together even as he watched the monster rise. It out a guttural groan as it woke, tilting its head side to side for a moment before sniffing the air. The Faunus stiffened.

Could it smell them?

The answer was apparently no, as the Ogre turned away from them grumbling deeply as it walked away. Neptune sucked in a breath. "It's going towards the village."

Sun's eyes widened. It was going to attack? Now?

It was hungry, or looking for a kill.

Well then.

"Neptune," he whispered. "Get ready."

"We're doing this?"

"Yeah."

The Mistrilian nodded, raising his rifle.

And firing.

A beam of dust blasted into the back of the Ogre with a bang, taking the thing by surprise.

But when it turned to ace them, teeth bared and growling, Sun thought that probably wasn't a good thing.

"Move!"

It was the only warning he could throw out in time as the Ogre roared, slamming a boulder-sized fist down on the place he'd just been standing. The Faunas swore as he rolled, leaping to his feet.

Fast. Way too fast for the size of the thing, for the build.

He'd barely been able to register its speed right away, it'd been too much of a surprise.

He didn't have time to complain though, because he was already moving back, ducking under a swipe that would have taken his head off. Damn it, its arms were the size of tree trunks!

He stepped to the side as another hand reached out to grab him. He brought up the butt of his staff, smashing it against the Ogre's fingers. The silver connected with its skin.

The monster roared in rage and pain as its skin fizzled as if burned.

"Neptune!"

"I'm on it!"

Sun batted away another swipe for him. As his partner reached into one of his many pouches. Neptune cast out a cloud of grey and white shavings that clung to the Ogres skin, making it sizzle and forcing the beasts' attention to Neptune with a made growl.

Silver, Iron and Salt. For some reason, these three substances had some sort of special effect against the majority of Creatura. Why? Sun didn't know, but it sure as Hel was useful against big things like this.

Neptune's gun shifted into a glace as he swiped at the Ogre's legs.

Sun was quick to copy him.

Usually, a staff couldn't do much surface damage. It couldn't cut or slice, instead focusing on breaking and bludgeoning.

The silver casing changed that though and as Sun battered its legs, aiming for its joints – knees, ankles and hips specifically – it was almost like he was carving away its flesh with fire.

He stepped forward, pushing down hard as flesh burned beneath his weapon and pulled back at the last second as a fist clobbered down in front of him.

From the other side or the Ogre Sun could see blood spurt out in a wide arc.

Again, the Ogre turned to face Neptune.

Sun grinned. Yang's info had held up; Ogre's were huge, monstrously strong and savage.

But they were stupid.

Their strategy wasn't anything amazing, basically just making sure that no matter when they hit the thing it would have to turn away from one of them to face the other. A back and forth. As long as they could rely on its lack of intelligence they wouldn't have a problem.

No point in getting cocky though.

Sun clapped his hands together flared up his aura. Motes of light shot from his body and clones of light came into existence.

It had taken him a while, days filled with exhaustion, bruises and beatings but his Semblance had gotten a boost because of it. Four clones capable of full-scale combat alongside him was no small feat in his own eyes, and thanks to a boatload of practice it was just that.

His foursome of clones rushed the Ogre, crashing into the back of its legs with a force that would have been painful for Sun himself. They followed through with a flurry of blows. Spinning and twirling madly with their sold light staffs battering down on the Ogres legs mercilessly

The beast stumbled forward right into Neptune's blade and oared as the teen sliced open it's leg. Again blood splashed out but this time kept going.

"I think I hit an artery!" Neptune yelled out. "Whoa!" only to have to dive low as the Ogre swung at him. The fact that when he stood up again he was forced on the retreat as it chased him down.

"I think I made him angry."

"I got it." Sun called back, pulling out a wickedly serrated hook on an iron chain. "Okay," he muttered. "time to try you out."

The Faunus rushed forward, hopping on the shoulders of his clones as they tossed him forward, into the air just above the Creatura as Neptune ducked and weaved out of its grasp. With a cry out his own Sun swung the hook as hard as he could.

It sailed through the air in a high arc, over the ogre's shoulders.

As soon as it dipped Sun yanked it back and braced himself as it sank into the flesh, all the way until it hit something solid.

The monkey Faunus was ripped off his feet as soon as the monster registered the pain.

He'd hit something alright. It must have caught, on a rip or shoulder from the looks of it, and the chain, pulled tight burned skin as well as fire could have.

That left one problem though.

"Oh crap!" Sun cried out as he was thrown through the air, holding on to the chain in a death grip less he get splattered on a tree.

"Sun! what are you doing?!"

"Trying not to get squashed!"

The Ogre roared angrily, arms twisting as it tried to reach the blonde teen hanging off it's back.

"Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it!"

Neptune obliged, beams of energy striking the monsters head hard enough to stun him slightly, or at least catch his attention.

"Get off of him already!"

"I need to do something about his arms first."

"What?!"

Sun didn't answer, planting a foot on the Ogres back and kicking off – and – over its shoulder. He swung with his momentum and pulled the chain hard, wrapping it all the way around its arm. Smoke was coming from its flesh now, and it growled as it tried to pull the chain off.

It gave Sun enough time to get his feet on the ground and tighten the chain even harder.

He pulled.

And sliced off the Ogres arm like a guillotine.

This time when it roared, it was filled with a shrill beast-like agony.

Mad eyes burned as they whipped to Sun, the Ogre shaking madly as it barrelled suddenly towards him.

"I think you just pissed him off."

"I did more than that!" Sun cried, stumbling back as the Ogre managed to clip him with his one good limb. It sent him spiralling away a little and he just barely managed to get his feet under himself in time to dodge the follow-up. "I cut off his fucking arm! What else am I supposed to do?!"

"I dunno, something tells me we need to use brute force." Neptune paused as he heard something approach loudly from behind them.

"And speaking of brute force."

" **RRRRAAAGGGHH!** "

A human ball of fire crashed into the house-sized monster with a force so crushingly overwhelming and fast it tore the thing off its feet and through half-a-dozen trees.

Yang landed a moment laughter and rolled her shoulders.

"Sorry I'm late." She said. "I've got what we need to know to deal with this punk."

"About time," Sun scowled, brushing himself off as he came to stand beside his fellow blonde. "You know we've been dealing with this guy fine by ourselves for the most part… did you even find anything useful in that head of yours that we haven't already done?"

"Maybe a few things," Yang shrugged. "But you're right, you guys are doing pretty good. Cutting off the arm was a nice touch."

"You think so? I think I just made him angry."

"I did, but that makes things easier for me."

"You sure?"

Yang nodded as the Ogre finally managed to pick itself up again. Its eyes found her in an instant and it growled.

"Yeah. Ogre's don't do great against the cold. You still got some ice dust?"

"yeah."

"then use it. I'll deal with it head on and you two back me up."

"As usual." Neptune sighed. "You know, one of these days we're going to deal with something you can't punch."

"Phfft _please_ , I can punch ghosts, what on Remnant would fit that description?"

"Your anger problems of homicidal rage? I'm pretty sure that's not healthy."

"You still can't swim Nep, don't make me throw you into a river."

"Nah you wouldn't do that, you like time too much."

"Guys!" the Faunus groaned. "Can we deal with this first _please?"_

Sun's point was further emphasised as the lumbering beast smashed down over them, caving in the ground beneath as they jumped back.

"Okay then," Yang said. "Let's get this over with."

And then she switched.

All at once, Yang let out a retching howl of rage.

Her eyes flashed crimson as her hair burst into flames, heat building up around her and pulsating, so hot the earth began to steam, the air warped around her and the leaves on the trees shrivelled up.

There was a crack as she pushed off the ground and rocketed forward so fast the air screamed out.

Yang crashed into the Orge again, slamming it back with a grunt.

She ducked under its arm as it swung and fired her fist into its gut.

A right jab.

A left hook.

An uppercut.

Again and again, more and more Yang pushed forward relentlessly, pushing the monster back with a pained cry to reward her every step.

Every time the Ogre tried to attack, tried to block or counter, Dust rounds peppered its sides, it's limbs and body freezing only to melt away, steam and burn in the next moment. The three Mercenaries were quite literally boiling the beast alive.

And there was nothing it could do about it.

Yang's fists were a blur. She didn't have to worry about accuracy, about missing. The thing was just too big for that. She swung with a reckless rage and power, every hit a heavy one. She didn't have to worry about defending or dodging either, Sun and Neptune had her covered.

So she hit the Ogre again.

And again.

And again and again and again and again

And again and again and again and again and again

And again and again and again!

Flesh ruptured, muscles tore, bones cracked and splintered.

And it was all music to Yang's ears.

Every punch force it back.

When it tried to retaliate she punched so hard it flinched and spasmed.

When a tree blocked the way, Yang punched it so hard it went _through_ it.

And eventually, it couldn't take anymore, and when Yang's obsidian fist crashed into its leg it met no resistance, carving through and blowing out its kneecap in a shower of gore.

"Yang, finish it off!"

She did so happily.

As it fell to her level the magi reached out with her black hand. Her fingers lit up in flames as she pushed forward.

Into its eye.

And through.

The Ogre let out a shrill scream as Yang's hand melted through its skull and into its brain.

And then it stopped, as Yang's fist closed and she _wrenched_ out the organ through its socket.

And it fell to the ground dead.

Everything went quiet, except for the crackling of Yang's flames which she quickly extinguished a moment later.

"Whoa Yang," Sun whistled, eyeing her warily for a moment, before shaking his head and stepping up beside her to look down at the creatura. "That was more brutal than you usually are."

"Not brutal enough," she spat. "Didn't find much else on how to kill it, but found plenty on its diet. Turns out they have a sweet tooth for children, if you know what I mean, like the soft flesh."

Sun looked her, then back at the dead Ogre. "Oh." He sounded a lot more understanding now.

"So what should we do with it?" Neptune asked. "Burn it?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's got nothing poisonous about it so it would really be a problem for people leaving close. I say we just leave it for the scavengers… they'll probably find some use for it."

There was a pause.

"So… you ready to go get paid?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

They were totally ready to get paid,.

After a fight like that wasn't exactly taxing for Yang, she knew how Sun and Neptune enjoyed the relaxation afterwards.

The villagers had been more than happy to hear that their problem had been dealt with and – thankfully – had kept their end of the deal to pay them in the full amount.

The Lien was always nice, and since the current job and been a well-paying one it left them with an important question.

What to spend it on?

Tonight though, it was an easy one.

Some good food, and better drink.

"Ah that's better." Yang sighed as she wiped the ale foam from her lips, kicking her feet up and resting them on the table as she leaned back. "There's nothing like a party after a job."

And it was a party. The people around them had been thankful for what they'd done, but that would soon fade when they knew they'd had to spend a great deal of Lien to do it.

Money was tight now more than ever after all.

That might bring Grimm, something Yang wasn't exactly I the mood for.

So, what better way to 'give back' than to let everybody have a few drinks on the house?

"I think you should relax on the alcohol," Sun advised, stuffing his face with food even as he did so. "Last time you got drunk me and Nep had to carry you to your room. You know you're a happy drunk right? The _very_ clinging kind?"

She laughed. "Sure do, it's half the fun. But yeah, sure I'll ease up a little, at least until the two of you decide to join me in my drunk antics."

Neptune rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not thanks. Not exactly sure what I'd be like as a drunk. I could be all angry and violent for all I know."

"Yeah… about that."

"What is it?"

"I'm just curious," Yang shrugged. "Why do you think I have anger issues?"

The blue haired teen frowned. "Is this a trap? Like, a trick question or something."

She sighed. "No, Nep, I'm serious. I mean, you said it earlier when we were fighting the thing… I'm just wondering why you think it's that bad. What were the words you used? Homicidal rage?"

"Well… yeah… I mean, the screaming and the yelling and the way you literally light yourself on fire when you fight and… pretty much everything else. You know?"

There was a moment where neither of them said anything.

And then, whatever Neptune had been expecting, it wasn't for Yang to laugh.

" _That's_ what you're talking about?"

"Well… yes! What else would I mean?"

"Oh nothing, nothing." She waved. "I was worried I was being an ass or something all the time. Nah, listen, when I fight I'm angry yeah, but that's on purpose. I switch to it."

Sun blinked. "Switch? As in… what exactly?"

"Um…" Yang tilted her head to the side, tapping her finger against the table lightly as she thought. "How do I explain this exactly… it's… like a persona, I think."

"You think?"

"Well, it's not exactly but close enough. Like, it's focusing on a specific set of emotions or feeling to help you fight. You know how a soldier deals with stuff like that? How they can adjust to society again after war?"

"I guess so." Neptune nodded. "You mean like how they can hold say, a knife on the battlefield and know they need to use it to stab someone?"

"Yeah, but like, when they go home and hold say, a knife for eating they don't immediately think to stab the person sitting next to them you know?"

"You know, some people are specifically _not_ like that."

Yang nodded. "Yeah, but that's the point. Those guys, who can't adjust back to the civilian life don't have those personas, they got too mixed up in it all. My 'switch' isn't exactly the same but it's close… have you seen Ruby do it?"

"You sis?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've seen her fight Sun, once or twice right? Like at the docs ages ago."

"Um, yeah, yeah I do." The Faunus nodded, straightening up a little. "She was like, all cold and stuff. Focused. Is it like that?"

"Yeah." Yang said, grinning a little. "Ruby's got this little switch of hers she manages between. I remember her using it for fights yeah, but also when she was dealing with Ozpin and stuff. Heh… Weiss thought she was the only one who noticed, but I did too. I thought it was weird at first, but after I learnt about all the magic stuff it started it make sense. I couldn't understand it, but it made sense."

"But you do now." Sun guessed.

"I think so at least." Yang hummed, taking a swing to give her time to think. "Mine isn't exactly the same obviously, but I kind of latch on to the angry parts of my psyche, since it's a lot more… you know, relevant I guess. I mean, my semblance basically needs me to be angry… like a temper tantrum I guess."

And wasn't that embarrassing to admit? The great Yang Xiao-long now turned Branwen relied on the same feeling a bratty little toddler had to deal with.

"So… it's not the same as just being angry then?" Neptune asked again.

" _I_ don't think so at least. Like I said it's a switch. Whenever I need to do rein in my other feelings or focus on just what I'm doing I act like that. It's still me though obviously, you know that, since I've never actually been like that to either of you, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Sun smiled. "It's not like an _actual_ persona then, just something you do."

"Eh," Yang shrugged. "Who knows? That's what it feels like that least but I'm not a psychologist… not like I trust those guys to look around in my head. The last shrink I went to misdiagnosed my ability to see and hear spirits as schizophrenia."

"Don't like doctors?"

"I have a love-hate relationship with them." She grinned. "Now a scientist, that's where it's at. I guess some of them technically still go by doctor, like Oobleck did but he was more of a historian." Or Merlot, she didn't say. "Who knows, maybe I'll retire one day and take up that job. I think I'd be good at it."

"You, a scientist?" Neptune laughed.

"What, you don't think I could?" Yang challenged in mock anger."

He shrugged. "Just don't feel like that would be your thing. Wouldn't it be too boring for you?"

"Yeah, if it was regular mundane science maybe. I'm talkin' about magic science. Looking at ancient countries and all that stuff would be awesome don't you think?"

"…Yeah," he said after a moment. "yeah that sounds like it would be fun… that's a long way off though don't you think? I mean, with all the stuff we're dealing with now. I think Remnant would have to pull itself together and go back to being safe for people first."

"Hey, nothing wrong with looking toward the future you know?"

She chuckled to herself. Yeah… nothing wrong with looking forward, but who was she kidding really? That sort of life wasn't something she would have, not realistically.

"Um, excuse me?" a voice came, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned her held a little enough to see a man standing at the end of their table.

"Yeah?" she asked. "what is it, something wrong?"

"No," he shook his head. "it's just to asked for us to let you know if we had any more contracts for you."

She raised an eyebrow. "And you do already?"

"Well, no, but our mayor just received this. He wanted me to give it to you…. It's a request from somewhere else."

Yang grunted. "Sure, thanks. Sun take a look at it will ya?"

"Uh-huh," the Faunus nodded, thanking the man as he left them. The blond's eyes scan the page as Yang took a swig.

And then she noticed how he stopped.

And stared.

And blinked.

And rubbed his eyes.

And then squinted.

"Come on Sun you're killing me here, what is it?"

"I'm… not sure… I'm trying to think," he looked up at her with a pure look of disbelief. "Do you think Belladonna is a common name… for Faunus?"

Yang's face twisted. What type of- "Why?"

"Uh… take a look."

He handed her the page, and Yang's eyes found the name immediately. Right there, at the bottom of the page.

Ghira Belladonna.

"Yang? Yang? Branwen? Miss Branwen?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Miss Branwen?"

Yang blinked suddenly as if she was waking from a dream, and realised it wasn't too far off. She wasn't at an inn taking a drink or partying. She was in Menagerie, she was on the job.

"Miss Branwen?"

"Huh?" she breathed, looking up at the tall Faunus beside her. He was the chieftain of Menagerie…. Blake's father.

"I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"Uh, sure, go on ahead." Honestly it might help dispel the awkward mood between them.

Not that she couldn't understand why it was there. She'd all but snapped at his daughter. That wasn't exactly something that would put a person on anyone's good side.

She hadn't meant to though. She'd just seen Blake and froze up. She'd panicked, and in a desperate attempt not to look weak she'd reached for an anchor. Her anger.

And it had been there waiting for her, oh it had been there. It had been hot, wild and ready to be directed onto the girl.

But she'd managed to reign her own emotions in, if only a little.

Everything was confusing now. Here he was, hired by her former partner's dad to deal with some kind of spree of disappearances and Yang wasn't sure if she should feel happy or anger or like she should break down and cry.

It was all so stupid and complicated.

No. she could focus on the task at hand. Right now this was supposedly a serious issue. She could talk about it with Sun and Nep later when everything was calmed down a little.

To do that though, it meant being hospitable as she could to this guy, Ghira Belladonna, no matter who he shared a last name with.

"I was wondering…. Why did you decide to become a mercenary?"

"Looking to judge my calibre?"

He blinked. "I… yes, actually. Is it that obvious?"

"You? Nah, the question on the other hand… kinda." She shot him a grin. "Listen there's not much to tell, not much that isn't private anyway. It was a way to help people out the way most people couldn't. It was a bonus that I got paid well for it."

"Don't Huntsmen have that same opportunity."

"Yeah but I'm not a qualified Huntress. I mean, Beacon fell before I even got to finish my first full year. This was the closest I was able to get to that."

Ghira winced. "My apologies, I didn't mean to hit a sore spot."

"There _is_ no sore spot. I'm doing what I want to do for my own reasons, this is just a temporary thing."

"Well," he said. "I suppose that's good then. Still, it is impressive how well known you are. The Berserker?"

Yang heard the amusement in his voice and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Yeah, yeah. Believe me, the name wasn't my idea. People love to make up stories when the worlds going through hel right now, lots of mistrust after what happened with the Fang recently too. If they make me some kind of figure to make themselves feel better that's fine by me."

Ghira frowned. "I'm sorry, did you say hel?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Believe me it's hard for a lot of people, but they manage. We're not the only ones helping but we do our part. People are learning to toughen up I guess-"

"What do you mean by that?"

Yang stopped, blinking. "I… what do I mean by what?"

"You said the world was like hel. I doubt you mean it literally."

"You… don't know?"

"The CCT towers affected everywhere I'm afraid, even here. We don't get much news from the outside. Has something happened."

"I-"

Yang was cut off by a horrified scream that ripped through the streets.

The chieftain's head snapped up. "What was what?" whether he expected an answer or not he realised he wasn't about to get one, as Yang took off towards the sound. A moment later he followed, running after her as she weaved through crowds of people beginning to gather towards it too.

When he caught up to her, the situation had suddenly changed however.

"Don't move."

Yang frowned, glancing down at the blade that tickled her chest. "Seriously?"

"Quiet human." The Faunus snarled. He was one of the Menagerie guards. Dressed in the belladonna's purple colours. Ghira wasn't sure if he had been part of Sienna' White Fang or not, and that was a concerning thought.

"Listen, I'm not here for a fight."

The Faunus didn't answer her, instead barking an order to his comrades, who drew their weapons and surrounded the blonde. She looked unimpressed by the display, if anything more irritated that wary, but it rose haled through Ghira.

"There has just been an attack, and we find you near the scene, a human. The fact that your kind has no business on Menagerie is suspicious enough, but for you to be near it when it happens."

Ghira bristled taking a step forward to intervene when the brawler drawled. "Wow, looks like racism is a two-way street. What's this count as, racial profiling? You getting the irony here or is it just me?"

" _You_ -"

This wasn't going well. A crowd was gathering around them, swallowing Ghira up. The people of Menagerie didn't trust outsiders of their own kind. To see a human here, right at this moment of all times was enough to draw their ire. But this woman was a fighter, and if things escalated, someone would get hurt. He got ready to move.

When something surprising happened.

Yang let out a long sigh. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her coat and shaking her head. "Listen, you not likening me, that's fine, okay? It's not like you know me, and considering everything that's happening in the world would don't _need_ to like me… but I'm here to help, specifically to help with people going missing. What you _need_ is to trust me, if only for this."

She raised her hands in surrender. "You can watch me if you want, if that makes you feel safer that's fine. But you have to at least put the weapon down for me to do anything."

"And what if I don't?" the guard asked disdainfully. "Are you going to preach some kind of understanding and love?"

"No, I'll beat you down until you can't hold your weapons anymore."

The crowd stirred.

"Listen bud, I want to help, it's what I'm getting paid to do, so don't think this is pure altruism, but if you try for me I'll defend myself no problem. We can go down that road if you want, or we can go down the one where I find out what's happening to these people. It's you're call."

"I-"

"You can help?"

Yang blinked, long over the shoulder of the guard as he turned around. A small woman with ram horns looked to her with desperate eyes.

The blonde nodded. "it's what I'm here to do.""

The woman straightened up, pushing past the other Faunus as he reluctantly lowered his weapon, and the others did too.

"Come with me, please."

Yang did so, letting the older woman drag her along. Ghira watched as the crowd began to mutter among themselves. Some followed to see what was happening to sate their curiosity, most broke up the source of agitation suddenly having moved on.

The guards saw the Chieftain as the others parted.

"Chieftain Belladonna sir! We, there was a human here and…"

He stopped him with a raised hand. "I know, I watched. She is her under my request."

The Faunus paled, suddenly looking in the direction Yan had gone nervously. "So… she is here to help."

"Whether she can I don't know, but yes, that is correct." He watched the man, studying his expression. "You're not sure she can be trusted."

"I… have bad experiences with humans' sir."

"Well, why don't you come with me then?"

"Sir?"

"Bring some of the other men too. I don't expect her to get answers right away but she might need the manpower for something."

"Sir!" he saluted, calling out to the other men and ordering them to follow. With that done, Ghira followed the trail Yang had been dragged down. It didn't take long for him to reach the next destination, but he decided to stay back from what he saw.

There was blood, a lot of it, splattered across the ground and up the side of a wall of a house. The ram-horned woman's house by the look of it. She was kneeled beside the mercenary, who in tern was crouched on the ground, hands hovering over the bloodstain in thought.

He could hear the conversation fine though.

"So you say your son left the house suddenly?"

"yes," the lady nodded rapidly. "Mata, he- he said he heard someone calling for him outside. He said it sounding like me and it confused the both of us, so he went to take a look." She sniffled. "then… there was a crash and I heard him screaming. I ran out of the house but he was gone and.. there w… s-so much blood."

The woman broke into a sob suddenly, and Yang rested a hand on her shoulder gently. "I'm sorry… but I need to focus for me alright? Was there anything else you remember? Did you see or hear anything? What about your neighbours?"

She hesitated. "I… don't know." She admitted. "There was some scratching like an animal and heavy footsteps right before the crash… I- I think? You boy sounded t-terrified. I don't know where he is it happened so fast. The-the screams stopped so suddenly."

Yang hummed, glancing back at the Fauns guards beside Ghira. "Hey, can you guys do me a favour? Collect witness statements while I take a look at this."

The men shared a look. They… really didn't have a reason to say no.

They spread amongst the crowd and after a second to think, Ghira walked over to stand beside Yang as her attention focused now on the walls. She had a small notebook in one hand and was sketching something into it lightly.

"Do you mind telling me if you're son had claws?"

The mother blinked. "I… no. He was a ram Faunus, just like me. He had horns but no claws."

"I see…. So he couldn't have made this could he?"

Ghira's eyes followed Yang's and as she gestured to the wall again.

And the four long claw marks carved into the stone. What was that?

"N-no." the woman gasped, eyes wide as she stared at the markings "No my Mata couldn't have done that."

"I didn't think so," she nodded. "Had to make sure though, just in case. It's not a man-made mark, that's for sure." She looked to the woman. "Listen, I'll do my best to learn what I can and find out what happened to your son but…"

The woman swallowed fearfully. "But?"

Yang managed a smile. "But there's no point in you worrying yourself about this. I know it can't be helped, but you should try to relax as much as possible. Go inside, get some rest of something to calm you down if you can, okay? I'll do my best."

"I… o-okay." She sagged. "I… I understand."

"Thank you.

Ghira watched as the woman retreated back into her home, away from the prying eyes of those around her. When she had, Ghira stop beside the human woman.

"How big would you say they are?"

He frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"The claw marks." She nodded. "How big do big would you say they are? How long? How deep in the stone?"

Not sure what this was going to do to help but not exactly willing to be a nuisance, he glanced at it carefully.

"I can't say for certain but… perhaps a foot and a half? Maybe two?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'd say you're closer with your first guess. Maybe nineteen or twenty inches thereabouts. Looked about four or five inches deep, kind of like whatever it was skimmed the stone as it did… something."

Ghira looked to her nervously. "Is it Grimm then?"

"If it was that lady would have come out to see the thing eating her son. I can bet everybody else in a mile radius would have known exactly what was up if that was the case… no, this was something else. Something a lot smarter. There's blood but no body and no body parts. It took her son and dragged him away somewhere… done." She said, Ghira got a look at her notebook for one moment – enough to realise she had been drawing a sketch of the markings along with the measurements themselves – before it snapped closed.

At that moment one of the Faunus guards approached them.

"And, what'd you find?" Yang prompted.

"Not much," he sighed. "The neighbours were in their homes when it happened. They heard the crash and screaming too, but by the time they came out to see what was going on all they saw was the boy's mother."

"Nothing else?"

"Well… a few of them did say they heard the mothers voice outside _before_ the noises started."

"Which matches up." Yang nodded. "I'll make a note of it, thanks. Can you do me a favour again? Make sure nobody leaves their homes tonight okay?"

"I don' think I can do that without-"

"Do it." Ghira sighed. "If it will help I think it would be best to do as Miss Branwen says."

He saluted. "Yes sir!" before jogging away.

"Thanks." she said.

"As I said. If it will help I see no reason not to… do you have any clue what might have happened, what it was?"

"Some." She whispered. "But I want to make sure… one more thing to do first."

Before his eyes, Ghira watched as the human reached out with her black hand and ran a finger across the wall, spreading blood onto her finger.

And ran that finger across her tongue.

His eyes widened. "What are you-"

"Quiet." She shushed, face contemplative. It was like she was testing it, running it across her lips for something . breathing in it's sent, examining its flavour.

"I'm done."

Ghira crossed his arms uncomfortably. "Was that necessary?"

"Well I've got more of a clue as to what's going on… I looked around earlier…. You have a food shortage right?"

"We do, unfortunately."

"Then I've got some good news and I've got some bad news."

"You do?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah. The good news is that the kid, Mata, he's alive."

"How do you- no, that's wonderful!".

"That's where we get to the bad news." She winced. "if we don't hurry. That won't last much longer."

He stiffened "What do you mean?"

She shook her head, "Come on. We should get back to your home so I can fill in Sun and Neptune. If I'm right, we'll move out tonight."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Penny, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" the machine asked, looking up from the chess board as she finished moving her pawn. She and Weiss had been playing for a while now. It was one of the ways she had offered to help Weiss alleviate the boredom.

They were on their fourth game now. When Weiss was young, she used to think that learning to play chess was more than what it really was. In fiction, chess was like a metaphor more than an actual activity. It was a tool used to show the intelligence of a person, a commander or schemer perhaps.

It was meant to show their brilliant minds and cunning intellect.

In reality, it was a game of pieced moving on a board. Yes there was strategy but it was more down to learning what pieces could perform specific moves, how to recognise a pattern and react to an opponents moves.

Truthfully, there was nothing so amazing about it that great minds would be on display.

It was still fun though.

"I was wondering… do you know why your predecessor was built in the first place? Why they needed a robot that looked like a young girl. The Grimm surely can't tell the difference."

"I am not sure to be honest." Penny admitted to the white-haired girl as she moved her knight, taking the robots bishop. "I don't have the same databank of memories as the previous Penny so I can not know for sure but I have a few theories on it."

"And they are?" Weiss asked, frowning when Penny's rook took her knight.

"The most practical would be infiltration. As dark as it may seem, disguising a machine as a young girl would be an excellent way to place troops in other kingdoms. However the flaw with that is that I do not believe general Ironwood would do such a thing, nor that my father would allow my creation for that purpose."

"Any other theories?"

"A few, but they range from that to more and more unlikely. Perhaps they wanted a machine that looked more comforting to humans so that Atlas might be able to integrate machines into all aspects of life, but that seems highly impractical and costly considering I have Aura. The other that might be possible is that it was just for curiosity sake… maybe my predecessor was just an experiment."

"Not impossible but yes, those feel like they're missing something important."

"What like?" Penny asked, moving her rook forward. That was check. Weiss was doing surprisingly good considering she was essentially against an advanced AI.

"I'm not sure. Maybe- " whatever Weiss was about to say was cut off as she chocked, spasming wildly and knowing the chess board to the floor as she clutched at her heart.

"Weiss are you alright!? What's wrong?

She tried to speak, tried to gasp for air as it vanished from her lungs or just force out some _semblance_ of a sound.

But there was nothing, and suddenly, Weiss felt her body burn.

Crystals writhed and grew beneath her skin, pushing, pushing, forcing it's way up to the surface. Along her arms and fingertips, she could see it appearing; the black dust.

What? Why now? How?

"Weiss?"

She stiffened. What would happen if Penny saw it? Would she kill her before she even got the chance to explain herself?

She forced back a cry. Her chest felt like it was about to explode.

Weiss grit her teeth. Something, a feeling, a thing, an emotion or something alive writhed in her core.

no.

please.

Not now.

 _Please_.

… _ **in Ordnung.**_

And then, just like that, it was gone.

Weiss almost collapsed right then and there, of it wasn't for Penny grasping her shoulder.

The Dust receded before Penny could see it, leaving only tiny cuts where they had sprouted from, already being healed by her Aura.

"Are you alright Weiss?"

"I," she panted. "Yes… yes I'm fine. I don't know what came over me. I think I need some rest now."

The machine watched her for a second before letting out a sigh.

And action no automaton had a need for.

"Alright. I will leave you be. Should you need anything please let me know."

"I will."

Penny nodded, helping Weiss to her feet and bowing, before leaving through the door as it hissed shut behind her.

The android leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

The Dust had surfaced.

She'd seen it, just for a moment.

It had been enough. Her program had initiated its extermination protocol, she'd been fully ready to initiate it.

But then she'd heard something.

A voice, a single word uttered as a command.

 _No_.

That was all it had taken to give her pause and instead rush to Weiss' side.

She'd… disobeyed her directive.

Why?

Penny shook her head. She didn't know. Perhaps another look at her predecessor's memory banks would help?

She was about halfway through them now.

Surely they held the answers to her questions.

* * *

...

…

* * *

 **Not much to say cuz I'm just really craving to go to bed right now, sorry.**

 **Just for reference in case people are wondering, creature is simple Latin for creature. since these aren't Grimm but still really old I'd thought it was better to gave a shorter description than 'magical creature' every time I needed to refer to them. Since Latin is supposed to be the first full human language I feel like it fit.**


	46. Collective: Part 4

**So I've been a little slow on updates recently. it's a combination of being sick (which I'm thankfully removing from now) and a lot of other real life events piling up. Nothing too important but time consuming all the same.**

 **Anyway, before we start with this one, I wanted talk about the recent chapters of Volume 6, mainly chapter 3. I feel like it's been long enough for anyone who's going to watch it won't be spoiled now and… well…**

 **First of all; I'll say right away that I didn't hate it. It was good, great even if you went in with the desire for Salem's back story. The ancient history aspect of it was good, the visuals were fantastic and it felt like a unique sort of style that RWBY hadn't tried before.**

 **I did have problems with it, and I'm fully aware that these are personal nit-picks and in no way mean the way the show did it was bad.**

 **Firstly was Salem's and Ozpin(or Ozma, which is a clever touch) relationship. Now, they didn't fall into the trap I was worried about with the scorned lover trope, but I personally would have preferred they didn't have a lover's thing going on at all. Since chapter two I know that yeah, they'd be in some sort of relationship but I had hopped it would be more like a master and apprentice sport of thing rathe than husband and wife. (Though they subverted it nicely by having Salem be curse by something Oz had nothing to do with)**

 **I would have preferred them to be something else, maybe friends or rivals or not even meat each other until much later.**

 **I'm happy they confirmed Salem to be human though, called that a long while ago.**

 **I had a few other problems and potential problems that might arise, mainly being** _ **how**_ **the moon was shattered, which was cool at first but disappointing in hindsight for really having no true importance other than a) the gods being petty and b) reminding Salem of her mistake every time she looked up.**

 **The other is the silver eyes which judging from the flashback may or may not be decedents of Ozpin.**

 **Again, Don't like that because I feel silver eyes should have far more importance but gets even** _ **creepier**_ **if you ship rose garden.**

 **Bleh.**

 **They're probably going to do more with that but hey, this is an AU, so it's none of the backstories going to be anything like what we were shown.**

 **Also the Faunus was underplayed. Maybe they'll do something else with them later but I was a little disappointed we got nothing from them, or that they were some… well the gods said the planet was an experiment.**

 **What I did like as the gods, not just their designs but the greekness I got from them. I know it's been a divisive topic in the community but to me the gods are the bad guys in this scenario. I mean yeah you can say Salem might have been selfish, but if you were grieving at the loss of the only person you ever loved you and you knew there was a way to bring them back after their live was cut short then You have to wonder if you would have done the same thing as her.**

 **I would have.**

 **Then they cursed her 'selfishness and arrogance' (aka grieving widow desperations) by making her immortal all that.**

 **Maybe I'm just really petty but I would have tried to turn humanity against the gods too, especially after they played god-like tug-of-war with Ozma's life.**

 **And the fact that they thanosed everybody for the decision of maybe a hundred, even a thousand people dosen't put them in my good books. And then they have the never to be like - Oh hey were totally wiped you out and now we're peacing out here and leaving ashes of your race behind in a world filled with no-rampaging Grimm but it was totally your fault and so if you manage to claw your way back up we'll be here for you to call us back sop we can rule over you again but if you fuck up we'll wipe you out again, totally great of us right?**

 **And they bitched at Salem for being arrogant.**

 **They were total assholes.**

 **In summary…**

 **They were exactly how I hoped they would be. To me they were like cold scientists viewing humanity as something to play and test. Like the planet was a Petri dish and when it turned out they didn't get the result they wanted they wiped the slate clean.**

 **Now as long as RT doesn't have it so that they welcome the gods back with open arms I'll be fine.**

 **I'm not certain but… well apparently Gurren Lagann was one of Monty's favourite shows. He may not have had all the story figured out before he passed, but most people at least have a beginning, middle and end of a story.**

 **Just saying.**

 **Anyway that's really all I wanted to say. I wanted to express my opinions on this one and ask what you think. You can of course have differing opinions and I'd be glad to hear them.**

 **I do like what V6 is doing though. I think this is the most the community has argued about good things rather than whether RWBY is a good show or was never good in the first place and other rubbish like that.**

 **I personally like how people are jumping back and forth on the Ozpin did nothing wrong standpoint.**

 **My view? Wasn't wrong on the beginning, but once he started hiding things and essentially sending people off to their death (Summer included) against an unkillable enemy while still lying to them he's not exactly my favourite person. They can still change my mind though, if they do things, like explain why if his job was to unite everybody why he as the king of Vale shoved the Faunus off onto an island and did practically nothing about the racism until they actually fought back. Among other things anyway.**

 **#Ravenwasrightallalong!**

 **One last small warning, being sick I'm not totally in the game right now so while I have tried to check for errors some might still slip through. I've decided to finally start looking for a beta to fix this problem for the future but if you find any yourself let me know and I will do my best to correct them.**

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake felt numb.

It was a new and strange feeling, the confusion that whirled in her stomach even now was threatening to make her ill.

Yang was here.

On Menagerie.

She'd never, ever considered that possibility that it might happen.

How was she here? Why was she here?

Well… those two questions were easily answered. She'd gotten here by boat, and had been hired by her father.

Hired.

She was a mercenary.

Another idea Blake had never considered, never crossed her mind, and why should it?

She was out there now with her father while she shuffled around her home, with the intention of avoiding her two _other_ guests.

"This tea is actually pretty good."

Sun and Neptune, the so-called Sage and Trident, were sitting in her living room with her mother, who was wasting no time 'getting to know them' as it was.

Why they were with Yang in the first place was just another question Blake had no answer for.

Questions, questions, questions. Far too many and all without a clue.

She couldn't- wouldn't speak to them. Not after their first encounter a few hours ago.

Everything was just so _off_. So instead she was forced to creep around her own home, eavesdropping in on the conversation from the other side of the paper wall.

"Thank you for the compliment Mr Wukong." Her mother smiled, and Blake forced back a gag at the sweetness in her voice. Why were they even here? Blake thought it would have been better if they were out looking for the culprit causing these disappearances, instead they were playing house with her mother!

"Please Miss B, call me Sun." he grinned.

"Oh? Miss B?"

"Ignore my friend." Neptune pleaded with a roll of his eyes. "He's friendlier than most people can handle."

"Oh don't worry yourself about it, you three are our guests, you can be as friendly or relaxed as you want."

"About that," the blur haired teen smiled. "Thank you for the rooms. It's been a while since we've had some real good beds to sleep in semi-safe rooms."

Kali blinked. "Why is that?" she asked, probably more out of curiosity than concern.

"Don't worry about what he says," Sun waved off. "He just means that since we're usually on the move we have to rent out rooms most of the time. They're not always the comfiest but we manage fine."

"I see." She nodded "Well as I said you're welcome here for as long as you need;."

"Thanks," Neptune nodded. "I was worried at the start that you wouldn't want us anywhere near your home to be honest."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well Sun's a Faunus but Yang and I aren't. Obviously I know I was wrong but we got a few uh…. 'looks' when we came into town." Kali frowned; "I see," she shook her head. "Well you don't have to worry about that from us. My husband and I hold no ill will against humans, especially ones we've never met before. We wouldn't have started the White Fang if we didn't think there was a way for Faunus and humans to live together normally."

"And isn't that something." Sun whispered. "I mean, meeting three of the White Fang leaders is a big deal as it is, but finding out that Blake is actually related to you guys?"

"Did she not tell you?"

"No. not that I blame her I guess, it's a pretty big deal."

"I suppose so." Her mother agreed. "Considering that she was only recently… well, she was a part of it's more aggressive era afterwards."

"Oh, we know."

Kali blinked. "I… you know?"

"Oh yeah that didn't really last as a secret. After the first, I dunno, month or so we all knew."

"A-all of you?"

"Yes," Neptune nodded. "Apparently Ruby, Weiss, Yang and team JNPR all figured it out at the same time. Then team CRDL was eventually told, then team CFVY and apparently all of the teachers had known from the start."

The Belladonna matriarch's mouth opened and closed as she tried to comprehend what she was being told. Mainly one detail. "Weiss Schnee? She knew about it?"

"Uh-huh."

"And… the headmaster?"

"Right from the start apparently. But hey, it's Beacon. Even among the Huntsman schools everybody knows they're the most… lax I think is the best way to put it, or weird, yeah, weirds the word that makes more sense… I was more surprised when General Ironwood knew."

Blake winced as her mother promptly dropped her tea.

"W-what?!"

"Oh yeah," Sun nodded, not seemingly as oblivious as he was letting on. "Found out a while ago, talked to her about it and everything from what Yang told me. He gave her a medal after their second mission."

"See… _never told us about that._ "

This time when Blake winced it was followed by a shiver. Her mother didn't sound at all happy from the realisation that her daughter was deliberately vetoing information.

"Damn it Sun." she hissed quietly to herself. "Stop making things worse of me."

"Considering the trouble you actually got up to I think he's letting you off light."

"Ilia," Blake sighed to her chameleon companion, who was stood smirking behind her with a poorly concealed amusement at her suffering. "Can you be the only one to not make this day any harder, please?"

"Alright, alright," the girl laughed. "Though maybe you shouldn't be trying to listen in on their conversation."

"Well what else am I supposed to do?"

Ilia rolled her eyes, taking a hold of Blake's arm and pull her away from the wall. "Come on, you need some fresh air I think. I might help you clear your head."

Blake grumbled something unintelligible but didn't struggle as she was led away.

Ilia brought her out to the balcony to watch the sun as it set over Menagerie. They could see people beginning to return home, police and menagerie guard alike encouraging people to finish whatever business they had and stay indoors for the night.

Blake really didn't have the desire to pay attention to it all too much. She sighed and leaned against the railings, resting her head in her hands.

"You okay?" Ilia asked her, resting beside her.

She wanted to say yes instinctually, talking about her feelings wasn't exactly something she liked doing with anyone… but Ilia would know she was lying as soon as she said so.

"I don't know." She said instead. "Everything's just… confusing."

"Confusing how?"

The cat Faunus scowled. "You know how Ilia, don't make me say it."

"…"

She sighed. "Yang's… she's here. My… partner… she's here in Menagerie. I just don't know if I'm dreaming this or not. I don't know what to do."

"Can't say I blame you," Ilia shrugged. "I mean, the first few times her and I met weren't on the best of terms. For me at least she's pretty terrifying but…" Ilia's skin flickered red for a minute. "I think that if I didn't know I was already into girls she would definitely have confirmed it."

Blake looked away as a blush threatened to spread across her cheeks. "Yes I… know what you mean." Her smile slipped from her face. "But she doesn't want to speak to me… she's angry… and I can't blame her."

"Yeah? What exactly did you do?"

"Something awful." Blake closed her eyes sadly. "I have to talk to her. I have to apologise if only to let her know that I'm sorry."

"Well…" Ilia nodded slowly. "That's good right? When she comes back maybe you can talk to her then?"

She nodded. It sounded like a plan if there ever was one.

All they had to do was wait.

* * *

…

…

* * *

It was about half an hour later when they arrived back and Blake felt her nervousness rise up as Yang and her father walked through the door.

The blonde's eyes didn't so much as flicker in her direction, instead falling on Sun and Neptune as they approached her.

"So?" Sun prompted. "How are things looking? We moving out?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We stay as a group for this one though. We should prepare while we can, we move in thirty minutes."

"You can take some of my men," her father offered. "They could help you if you encounter any danger."

Yang shook her head. "It's appreciated, but we'll manage on our own not to insult your people or anything but they'd probably just get in the way if they came along. No, it'd be a better idea to just leave it to us."

The older man hesitated, but seeming to realise that it wasn't a suggestion, but a command to leave it to them, he could only nod. "Very well. I suppose I should leave you two it then."

"Thanks," she said. "If you need me I'll be outside getting ready. Sun, Nep, you two meet me there when you're finished okay?"

They nodded. "Got it." now was her chance. She could talk to Yang alone, get this whole situation straightened out. Blake made to follow, only for Sienna to stop her.

"Blake, I need to speak with you."

A flash of irritation flared through her, but she pushed it down and sighed.

"What is it?" she asked. I was looking to speak with Yang so if it's not important.."

She trailed off as the tiger Faunus shook her head. That's what it's about. I want to speak with you about them… human

Blake immediately decided she didn't like the inflexion in Sienna's voice. "Is there something wrong with her?"

"I… would like to speak to you about it somewhere else. Come with me."

Blake frowned, realising that as annoying as this was it would be a childish move to ignore her, so reluctantly she followed the older woman, until they were outside the house, the other side of the house, away from Yang. It was dark out now, the moon beginning to rise high into the sky and down below lanterns were being lit outside people homes.

"You wanted a private place? This is it." Blake said, crossing her arms. "What did you want to ask me?"

Sienna was quiet for a moment, thinking or contemplating what she wanted to say perhaps. Either way Blake didn't like it. Ever since she'd found out a human would be coming to the island she'd been abrasive to those around her. It was starting to get on her nerves.

"Do you trust that human?"

Blake stared at her. The question, she'd expected, but not like that!

"What kind of- yes, of course I do."

"Why?"

"Why?" Blake echoed, a hiss almost escaping her. "Because she's my partner and my friend." She was more than that, but honestly, with how Sienna was acting Blake didn't think it was any of her business. "I trust her because I trust her, it's that simple."

Sienna snorted. "It didn't seem like that earlier. I may have missed the start but don't think I didn't see how she acted with you. Seems to me like she's not happy to see you."

Blake growled. The other Faunus had scored a blow there. She was right, of course Blake wasn't dense enough to miss that, but the reminder of it wasn't a pleasant one. Sienna must have realised she'd crossed a line because she took a step back. All the same she looked at Blake with a curious eye.

It was a challenge, but not one Blake wanted to take up. Instead, the younger girl let out a long, heavy sigh in an effort to calm herself before speaking again.

"I know she wasn't happy to see me. She has every right to be upset after what I did. I don't blame her. I was going to apologise for it before you _interrupted_ me. Honestly I don't see the point of this questioning. She's here and doing a job _you_ wanted done. The only thing I was worried about was that it would be someone we couldn't trust. There's no worry about that no, so why are you so against it?"

"Because," Sienna growled back. "She doesn't _smell right_. Can't you _feel_ it? Hear your instincts? She's dangerous. She's a threat."

"All Huntsmen are dangerous," Blake shot back easily. "It comes with the territory of getting stronger."

"This is a different feeling." She snapped. "It's like my senses are in overdrive when she's near. I can smell blood and death clinging to her like a musk. She's dangerous. She'll bring us war and death and blood."

Blake scowled as her patience finally snapped.. "You're being ridiculous. I've heard enough. You may not like humans but when one of them comes to offer their help it's not up to you to reject them if you want to complain about it, talk to my father.

And with that Blake turned away, had she hesitated for a moment she might have seen how Sienna's face had morphed into shock at the way she'd spoken.

She did not however, and made her way back inside to talk to Yang for real this time.

She came to the door of the Balcony where Yang was but stopped right as she was about to open the door.

She needed something to say, right? A plan?

No, no that was ridiculous. She just needed to be blunt, or frank if she could. Yang would appreciate that straightforwardness. No dancing around with her words. She could give her some warning though.

The knocked the frame of the door. "Yang? It's… me, Blake."

No answer. That was fine. She didn't expect to be welcomed with a cheery smile.

She knocked again. "Yang? I…. I need to talk to you."

Still no answer. Of course, what had she expected?

"I'm coming out." She said, steeling herself and making to open the door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Came a male voice. Blake nearly jumped out o her skin as her head snapped to the side to see Sun leaning against the wall next to her.

How- when had he gotten there? Why hadn't she heard him?

No, not important.

"Why not?" she questioned. "I know she won't be happy to see me but I still need to talk to her."

"You can't."

"But-"

"No, Blake, you don't get it, I mean you literally can't right now. She won't hear you."

"What… do you mean?"

Sun sighed and after a grunt to himself slid the door open just a little, just enough for them to peer out of a crack. "You see her?"

She did. She could see her back, hair flowing down past her shoulders and tickling the ground as she sat on the balcony, cross-legged. Blake couldn't see her face from this angle but from how still she was she could tell the brawler wasn't just resting.

"What is she…?"

"Meditating I guess you can call it." Sun answer. "Look, I'm not gonna get into details, if Yang wants to explain it that's for her, but she's like this every time we do a job. It's kind of like how she goes through all the info we've got. Not exactly something I can explain but uh, let's just say she has a library up in that head of hers, and right now she's going through it."

Blake quirked an eyebrow back at the blonde. "A library?"

What did that even mean?

"Yeah. Listen, she's focused on her own thing right now. You're not going to get through to her when she's like this, and if you do manage it you'll just be breaking her concentration and make her mad. Just leave her okay? She's not going to wake up from it until we have to go."

That… wasn't what Blake wanted to hear, but as much as she actually wanted it to be, she could tell Sun was telling her no lies.

"Ugh… fine. But what am I supposed to do then?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe wait until she's finished before you even try talking to her though."

Blake huffed. "Then what am I supposed to do until then?"

"Well if you're going to talk to her you might want to loosen her up… maybe get her a drink?"

"Seriously?" What did he thing she was, a waitress?

"Hey what do you want me to say? I'm not a councillor."

She sagged. If there was nothing else she could do she'd have to wait.

She wasn't going to get Yang a drink though. Even she could tell that would have been tactless. She turned and left, ignoring the way Sun watched her go. Why was he even doing that anyway? He was so off-putting now. What happened to the guy who wore such a dopey smile and laughed at everything?

This Sun… he was guarded, more so it felt like he was guarding Yang against her.

She shook her head.

No, that was ridiculous. What would he do that?

She ignored the doubts that swirled in her head again. She had to ignore the suspicions that were crawling into the back of her mind. It would do no one any good.

So she would wait, and it would be easier to do that if she had something to distract her until then.

Thankfully, for that she had Ilia.

"What's with that look?" the chameleon asked as she stalked past her. "You look like you bit into a lemon.

"Sun's being difficult." She sighed, slowing down as Ilia fell into step beside her. "He won't let me talk to Yang and made up some story about Yang 'looking through a library in her head' or something else ridiculous."

"What'd he mean by library?"

"No clue. I don't know why he thinks I'd buy that."

"What was she doing anyway?

"Meditating."

"Really?" Ilia sounded surprised. "She uh… didn't seem like the kind of person who's… calm enough for that."

"She used to do it all the time," Blake explained. "Over the summer is when I first noticed it. For whatever reason she'd meditate for hours on end all by herself. Sometimes Ruby joined in but I never uh… well I wasn't really interested in things like that. Not at the time anyway. I didn't think she'd keep it up though, it threw me off for a moment if I'm honest."

"You stayed with them over the summer right?" Ilia suddenly asked. Blake's eyes flickered to her.

"Yes Ilia, I stayed with Yang over the Summer, no, we didn't share a room."

"R-right, yeah, obviously, what was I thinking?"

"You were _thinking_ about things that I consider private."

"Does that mean the two of you actually…"

Another sigh. "Yes Ilia, we did… once."

"What was uh… she like?"

"Excuse me?"

"N-nothing!" Ilia backpedalled. "I was just uh- nevermind."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "You've been looking."

"I uh…" Ilia flushed. "Maybe?"

The cat Faunus felt her shoulders sag as she grumbled in exasperation"… You really are a useless lesbian, you know that?"

"It's not _my_ fault." The shorter girl cried.

"I feel like it is," Blake hummed "You think I haven't noticed you downtown every so often?"

Ilia did an impressive U-turn from pink to white in seconds. "You saw me?"

"Your flirting needs some work." It was technically helpful advice, but because it was… well… Ilia, she might as well have been speaking to a brick wall.

Ilia was awful at talking to pretty girls Blake had quickly found out, when she'd spotted her one night trying to make a move on a rabbit Faunus.

It had been painful to watch in all honesty.

Ilia shoved her face in her hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me." She groaned. "I just _can't_ say anything to them. It's like my brain doesn't filter through what I'm saying half the time and I end up with something embarrassing. I don't know why it's happening! I was fine when I had a crush on you!"

"Were you though?"

"Huh?"

"From what I remember you never actually approached me with how you felt right?"

Ilia blinked. "Oh… yeah… guess I didn't. Actually pretty much all I did was act out scenarios in my head."

"Too much information Ilia."

"Sorry, sorry." She sighed. "That doesn't really help though. It just means I have like, no experience in a relationship."

Blake patted her shoulder comfortingly. "You'll find someone eventually Ilia. I mean, I think it's strange you're so set on having a girlfriend when we're busy with so much."

"Pah! Busy?" Ilia laughed. "Maybe for you but most of us are just kind of loitering about most of the time. The most I do is help you with your little militia. Most of the time I'm just waiting for something to change. I think most people are. Being stuck on a tropical island isn't great for me especially."

"Is the Atlas girl bad with the heat?"

"Mantel," Ilia corrected firmly. "We take that seriously, and yeah, snow is a lot different from what's practically a desert every day."

Suddenly Ilia's smile turned lecherous. "You don't have any problems with the _heat_ though do you?"

The dark haired girl blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh you know," Ilia snickered, nudging her lightly. "Just that a certain somebody got _really_ close to the sun."

"Ilia…"

"I'm just saying, Cats are attracted to heat and you were _really_ attracted _I_ think." Oh god Yang wasn't even in the same room and the terrible jokes were spreading.

"You're really bad at this."

"Bad at what Blake?" Ilia asked with an oh-so-innocent-but-definitely-not expression

"The innuendos you're trying to pull off but can't." she raised an eyebrow. "Not to mention I find it weird how obsessed you are with Yang at the moment."

The former White Fang member scoffed. "Why? I hold no shame for liking the look of the blonde. I mean, she's utterly terrifying but that doesn't mean she's literally and figuratively the hottest woman I've ever seen?"

"Really?"

She nodded. "Really. I mean have you looked at her properly? She was a ten when I ran into her at Glenn but she's definitely a knockout now. She breaks the scales."

"You sure you're not just a perv?"

Ilia grinned. "Well we know where you're minds at don't we?"

Blake's eyes widened. "Wait a minute that's not what I-"

"But yeah you're right." Ilia waved off before she could defend herself. "In those areas I go so far past jealous that getting a piece of her would be enough."

"…Ilia."

"I mean seriously,"

" _Ilia_."

"Just _smother_ me in-"

"Stop!" Blake flushed, shoving her hand over her friends face and making her squawk in suprise. "Don't go any further please!"

Ilia laughed. "Relax, I was just trying to get a reaction from you. I mean with all that smut you read I thought you'd build up a resistance to that sort of thing. Looks to me like you just get worst when it's real life. If anyone's the pervert it's you."

Blake chose _not_ to deign that with a response.

"But seriously though," Ilia went on. "She has this _edge_ about her that she didn't have all those months ago."

Blake frowned. "What are you talking about? Edge?"

The chameleon blinked. "You haven't noticed? She's like… I don't know, focused. When I ran into her she was hot yeah but too obnoxiously bright and cheery for me, even when she was fighting, and when she was mad that that midget, you remember her right, the one with two different coloured eyes? When she was like that it was some kind of stupid rage. She was dangerous sure but I wasn't scared of her. It was like intimidation through blunt force trauma."

Blake's crossed her arms. "I disagree with the obnoxious part but I can see what you mean. Your point though? As far as I can tell Yang's the same. She's angry with me yes but she's been angry at me before."

The other Faunus actually looked at her with pity. "You seriously haven't noticed. That's… listen Blake, Yang might be a human but every time I'm near her it feels like I'm in front of a predator."

Ilia genuinely shivered. "I don't know how you haven't noticed but you're parents have, Sienna has; the way she moves, walks and talks, every single thing sends alarm bells off in my head. And I don't even know how you can deal with her anger directed all at you. I can't and I'm not even on the receiving end."

"I thought you said it was like blunt force trauma."

She shook her head. "No, the old Yang was like that. This girl, she's different. I said she had an edge right? Well I meant it. I feel like she could cut me with it like a knife. She's dangerous, really dangerous and she hasn't even done anything yet. I mean, it doesn't help that apparently people call her The Berserker for god's sake."

"You can't be serious," Blake shook her head. "It's Yang. She gets upset sometimes but she's the type of person who drops things quickly. She wouldn't hurt you anyway, she's not that kind of person. You're freaking out over nothing."

Ilia didn't look convinced. "You know she's only actually looked at me twice since she got here right? You know what it was like both times? It was like I was looking into the eyes of a giant beast. Like a huge, otherworld monster that was going to eat me alive if I so much as breathed wrong. She's fucking terrifying."

Blake bit her lip. What Ilia was saying… it didn't make sense. Yang wasn't anything like Ilia was describing, and she hadn't felt any of what Ilia said she was feeling at all.

But still… she couldn't shake the feeling.

Sienna _had_ been upset just a little bit too much for the situation, she'd said it herself that she didn't trust her, and her own parents had been cautious in their own ways too. Her mom had been unsure of herself and what she should say, and her dad actually went with her into town, not just to help out but because he didn't trust Yang to be near his people.

The same person who fought for equality through peace didn't trust some Blake had called a friend.

Something was wrong.

So why could she feel the same way?

Why could she not feel _anything_ the way they could?

Whatever her answer might have been, such concerns vanished as a shunting echoed through the house. It was the front door. Blake had to admit it was stupidly loud-

Wait.

"Oh for- he said he'd let me know!"

"Hey where are you going?!" Ilia cried out, but it was too late, Blake was already running. The chameleon cursed under her breath and sped after the girl "Wait up!"

* * *

…

…

* * *

By the time Blake found her she was already quite a way from her home. The three mercenaries spoke amongst themselves, facing away from the Faunus as she ran after them.

"Yang, wait!"

The blonde stopped at the call of her name, but as Blake caught up with her she didn't turn around.

"What do you want? If you can't tell I'm in the middle of something. We're going to find the thing that did this."

"I know." Blake said. "I'm coming with you."

"Uh, excuse me?"

"I'm coming with you," she repeated. "I want to help you find the Grimm that did this."

For whatever reason her words seeming to make them less impressed instead of more.

"Not happening." Yang said with a shake of her head. "I don't even know why you think I'd let you come with us. As far as I can see it's none of your business."

"You can't be serious-"

"Don't I sound serious?"

Was she really going to be stubborn about this of all things?

"Sun, Neptune," she tried. "Help me. It would make it easier for you wouldn't it? Is I was there to help?"

"It's not our decision." Her fellow Faunus shrugged, though he at least looked guilty about what he was saying. "Yang's the one who makes the final decisions… and, for me at least I think you might just…. Slow us down."

"What!?" Blake gasped.

"Can you even use your semblance Blake?" Yang drawled. "Because from what I can remember that was a problem for you before."

She looked away. "I…" No, she couldn't. Not even a little bit. All she got when she tried was that puddle of black that dragged her down when she tried. "I can't yet."

Yang scoffed. "Then you'd be a liability. Just go back home when it's nice and comfy until we get this over with alright?"

Blake shut her eyes and let out a breath. This was it wasn't it?. She had to say it now or she might not get the chance again. The words were there, clawing up the back of her throat desperate to get free. It was hard for her to swallow that resistance and admit…

"Yang… I'm sorry."

And just like that, Yang stiffened.

It was a start, an opening. For whatever reason it shocked Yang into silence, and gave her enough time to speak, to say what was on her mind.

"I understand why you're upset with me," Blake continued. "I… I don't blame you. It's my fault."

Slowly, the blonde turned to face her, eyes wide, face disbelieving and… something else… something more.

Even now, after months and months of going through the same scenario, Blake couldn't let go of the guilt she felt for it, that sensation of rot at her core. It could have been different, maybe, if she'd done something else, decided on another course of action or just _not been herself_ for once.

"It's my fault that you were hurt the way you were. My fault it happened at all." Yang's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Wait, what are you-"

"Adam attacked you because you got between us. It's my fault that you were hurt by him and then when you tried to carry me away I lost control and-," Blake forced herself to ignore the way her voice cracked. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself. Now was the time for making things right, so, she forced herself onward. "and _I_ hurt you. I attacked you and made you bleed I- I almost killed you and I can't even, it's all so much of a blur that you had to suffer through the experience while I didn't… It's all my fault and I'm so, so sorry Yang."

There. She'd said it. It was like a weight off her shoulders that she didn't even know she'd had. She'd apologised, and it felt _good,_ and even if Yang didn't accept it all right away that was fine. She could at least get her to understand that Blake had tried to make things right in even a small wa-

"I don't believe this."

Blake stopped, confused at the sudden change in Yang's tone, she looked up to see that Yang.

As furious.

"I don't believe this," Yang repeated as if she couldn't comprehend what Blake had said. "You think that- that I'm that much of a bitch that I'd be pissy about what someone else did? Or what you did when you _obviously_ weren't in control? You think I'm stupid or heartless?"

"I-"

"You really thought I was upset because of what happened at Beacon," Yang interrupted again, shaking her head. Her face was scrunched up in barely restrained anger. Her eyes were bright red and it looked for a moment like she might actually hit Blake. "And that's not even the worst part. You don't even get what you did wrong do you?"

"What are you- what do you mean? Yang I don't understand. If… if what I did isn't the problem then-"

"Oh it _is_ about what you did, but the problem feels like you don't even _know_ what you did, you have no clue do you?"

Whatever Yang must have seen in her seemed to confirm it, for her a second later when she turned away with a snarl. "Un-fucking-believable. You really are the worst kind of person aren't you?"

What? What was going on? Why was Yang suddenly so angry? No, she wasn't angry, she was furious, so much so she looked like she might actually lash out at her.

That fact alone caused Blake to step back.

That moment of weakness cost her.

"Oh and already you're going to run again. Fan-fucking-tastic. I don't even know what I expected. Listen to be Blake because I'm only gonna say this once, back the fuck off and leave us alone. Got it?"

Wrong. This was wrong. Everything was going wrong. Her plan of apologising and making things right was crashing and burning.

"But, Yang I don't understand-"

"Yeah, that's the fucking problem!" Yang snarled, moving right up in her face now, not even inches away. "You don't even have a clue wah t you did wrong. Well you know what? That just shows me how little you care. You don't even realise what you did was wrong you're that much of a selfish ass. Well you know what? Screw you. If you can't figure it out yourself then I wasn't nothing else to do with you."

She made a noise that almost sounded like a hiss as she turned away from the Faunus.

"Sun, Neptune, we've wasted enough time already. We're going."

"Yes boss."

 _No_!

"No stop!"

Blake reached out. It was on instinct, a desperate attempt to grasp for something, anything that would give her a chance to talk.

Her black fingers skimmed Yang's shoulder.

And an obsidian hand clamped around her wrist.

All of a sudden the tension racked up around them.

It was so bad that Sun, Neptune and Ilia almost reached for their weapons from a moment. Blake didn't notice, she was more focused on the blood red eyes boring into her own.

And she felt it.

The overwhelming presence of a giant bearing down on her. Of danger and rage spiralling out of control like a whirlpool that threatened to drown her.

They stood before a predator and she was its prey, a prey that could kick and scream and claw and bite and no matter how much she tried she wouldn't be able to stop them.

Her mind told her she was in danger, that the thing before her was a threat, and by the way she squeezed her wrist painfully, in that second it was true.

But her instincts were not the same.

Blake was warped. She knew that.

By this thing that had melded with her body, that moved on its own and flooded her with negative emotions she shouldn't have felt.

Now, it reacted to Yang in a way it never had before.

The feeling was _intoxicating_.

Blake gasped, and Yang must have thought it was in pain because her eyes widened a fraction upon realising what she was doing and tore her hand back as if it was burning, and a series of complex looks crossed her face.

The distraction was a godsend in a way, because it meant no one saw how Blake's legs quivered from the loss of contact.

 _What was wrong with her?!_

"Please Yang," she panted, struggling for the breath that had left her. "Just… what happened to you? Please just tell me what's going on, with the three of you. How- why did you become some sort of mercenary? You know what it is that' been taking people don't you?"

Yang turned away as Neptune shook his head. "You're asking a lot of questions you shouldn't be Blake. This... this is important. It's not the sort of thing we can just tell people."

"I don't know about that."

"Yang?"

The brawler sighed tiredly. "Ruby said we shouldn't keep secrets any more… that we should be better than Ozpin was… is, I mean… Fine, I'll tell you," she scoffed, suddenly sounding angry again. "Not that I think it'll do much. I won't repeat myself so listen up."

Blake nodded. Finally. If Yang was willing to open up to her a little bit then she take-

"Magic is real."

… What?

"After what happened at Beacon the world got a whole lot more crazy; somehow magic washed over the whole world, starting from the School. It's a whole series of events I don't want to get into, but me, Sun and Nep decided we could do more good out her rather than just standing around. We deal with the things Huntsmen don't have any understanding of; ghosts, spirits, goblins, ogres, harpies, griffons, hags, selkies, ghouls and all sorts of other things that could hurt people."

She crossed her arms.

"It's what we've been doing for the last eight months. No there's something like that here on Menagerie, something that's been eating people… we're here to deal with them… we've been doing this sort of thing as much as we can, helping people with their problems I mean and… I guess that's about it."

For a moment Yang stopped, as if waiting for her reaction as something passed through her eyes.

And Blake… could only stare. Her eyes flickered left and right and then…

"Yang…" she said slowly. "When was the last time you took your pills?"

Sun sucked in a breath sharply. " _That wasn't the right thing to say."_

At those words, a realisation struck Blake suddenly, and she stared at Sun and Neptune.

They were okay with this?

They were completely aware of this, this _madness_ Yang was spewing and going along with it? They were seriously letting her put herself in danger like this? Believing in this ridiculous and putting her life at risk again Grimm at the same time.

On its own Blake's jaw worked itself, as she tried to comprehend just what she was seeing.

Two Huntsmen-in-training taking advantage of a girl that clearly needed help.

"I don't know what I expected," Yang muttered aloud. "No, actually, I did expect this, but I'm disappointed that I was right." She sighed to herself before shaking her head. "I guess this makes things easier though."

Blake frowned. "Easier?"

"To end us… officially I mean."

A thrum of fear shook Blake's heart. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we're done." The brawler sneered, eyes snapping opened once again to show her eyes, flickering from red to lilac and back again. "You and me, I'm making it as clear as I can. We're through. I don't want anything more to do with you."

The Faunus fell back – stumbled even – as if she's been struck. Yang… couldn't really mean that.

She couldn't!

She was confused, that was it. That had to be it and Suna and Neptune weren't helping her. They were making it worse by letting her chase these delusional fantasies. She- she just needed to get Yang to see it. To listen to logic for a minute so they could talk things out.

That was the idea, but as soon as she tried to speak her breath left her, and that presence returned. That feeling of dread that made the hairs on her neck stand up and her ears flatten against her skull almost painfully. It was like a wall, a noose, suffocating her, forcing her silence.

And all she could manage was a feeble plea.

"N-no… no Yang you can't be serious. This- you're not thinking straight. You can't mean that."

"I don't know what else it could mean." Yang shrugged, and suddenly Blake saw it:

How Yang's burning anger had been snuffed out, her heat gone, and all that was left was an unnatural chill a calm, like the heavens before a storm.

She didn't look upset anymore.

She just looked bored.

And now she was realising how much that hurt.

Yang looked away. "Come on. She's already wasted enough of our time. If we're lucky we still might be able to find that woman's son alive."

With that they left properly this time.

Blake watched them go, as something dark twisted in her gut.

Yang couldn't- she couldn't _say_ things like that, treat her like this.

Yes, she'd done wrong but she should be treated… like _this._

It wasn't fair.

 _It wasn't fair!_

It took the sound of Ilia shuffling awkwardly behind her to snap her out of her thoughts.

She'd… forgotten the other girl was there.

"Ilia… what is it?"

The chameleon bit her lips. "You're thinking of something, aren't you? You're going after them."

The twisting sensation in her gut hadn't ceased. If anything, it was growing, writhing inside her as something angry bubbled to the surface.

Her hands clenched into fists as she glared in the direction Yang had left.

This wasn't over.

"Yes… I am."

* * *

...

…

* * *

 **Yang and Blake aren't off to a good start by the looks of it, they still have some things to sort out, and it doesn't look like it's going to be pretty.**

 **Emotional conflict moments between main character are hard, especially when one's mad at the other but you want to keep their reasons why a secret and yet don't want either to come off as idiots or assholes but also being justified.**

 **Maybe I'm just bad at it though, I'm sure plenty of people could do it better.**

 **You'll find out soon, but what kind of monster do you think is devastating Menagerie? I've left some clues sprinkled around the last few chapters so if you go back you should be able to piece it together.**

 **I had a crack at Ilia's character her too as you probably noticed, not much but at least some kind of banter to give you a show of it. In the show I appreciate how they introduced her in V5 without jumping straight into the fact that she was gay, but in Volume five it seemed to be the only part a majority of the FNDM cared about. and well, yeah she's a side character but RT didn't really help change that. she got a redemption cool, but apart from being in love with Blake and agreeing with Adam's viewpoint for a while there really wasn't much meat to her metaphorical characters skeleton.**

 **So, I tried something here. You might not like it but I gave it my best shot to show her actually acting like a person and not a trope. But if you thought it was too much or just flat out wrong though be sure to let me know.**


	47. Collective: Part 5

**My god. This is definitely the longest chapter I've ever written and I'm still not sure if it was big enough.**

 **13k words Honestly doesn't seem like enough here for the things that were covered. You'll see what I mean soon and I'll talk about it at the bottom. There's a lot I want totalk about IRL too in regards to RWBY volume 6 but... I don't want to make the mistake of spoiling anyone who hasn't seen the latest chapter.**

 **General thoughts; great episode, close for my favourite so far this volume and getting me excited for the next one.**

 **I'll leave it at that for now and let tou get into the chapter.**

 **A little note, I'm trying out a new software to catch spleeling mistakes and the liek but this is my forst time using it, not to mention it's a pretty ling chapter so It/ I might have missed some. IfI did and that sort of things bug you feel free to call me an idiot and mention it so I can fix it. I've been going back over old chapters and feeling really bad about the mistakes I never noticed before. I might have to go back and do a full scrub to polish every single chapter if I somehow get the time.**

* * *

...

* * *

Yang couldn't help her erratic breathing.

She tried, oh she tried.

Doing everything she could to steady herself, to reign in her feeling before they collapsed in on her.

It was hard, and with every step she took away from Blake it got harder.

It got so difficult at one point that Sun rested a hand on her shoulder, looking to her in concern.

"Are you alright Yang?"

She panted, shaking her head. They were far enough away that Blake wasn't in view anymore. Only then she spoke.

"You know," she wheezed. "You're not actually supposed to touch someone if they have a panic attack."

The Faunus' hand snapped back. As his eyes widened.

" _Are_ you having an attack _?_ "

She shook her head. "It feels like it a little but… nah, it's different. I used to have them all the time before Beacon. This is just me acting up."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he pressed, a worried look still etched on his face.

She appreciated it more than she thought she would.

Sun was… well he was more than just a friend. Neptune was a friend, a close one, but Sun to Yang… Sun felt like the brother she'd never had; always looking out for her when he didn't need to about the smallest of things. Now was a good example it this and she did feel thankful for it but…

"Oh gods Sun." she hissed, her hands rising to her face. "I almost… I-"

She'd almost lost it. It had been too much, way, way too much. Blake had just been… she'd been _there_ right in front of her.

She'd tried her hardest to push it down, her anger and bitterness, but she couldn't. It had slipped through her control and swallowed her voice.

She had every right to be angry at the Faunus but, but she didn't want to be like _that_. It made her feel sick to her stomach, like she was going to throw up.

She'd tried to be calm, tried to think that maybe she could talk to Blake and that yeah, she knew things would be heated but that maybe they could talk things out like adults.

That had all gone down the drain as soon as Blake opened her mouth and Yang felt her rage surge through her core.

She'd tried to control it, force it down.

And then…

Yang's eyes flashed red just recalling the conversation.

Blake didn't know.

She didn't even realise she'd done something wrong.

That was… that _should_ have made her feel better somehow she thought, that maybe if Blake was just ignorant to her faults they could work through it but instead;

It just made her feel like she'd swallowed something sour.

Blake _didn't care._

Blake didn't care enough to remember the things Yang had been through, or she didn't think they were important enough or-or something else that meant she didn't realise her mistake.

And it hurt.

It hurt in a way Yang couldn't describe with words or thoughts. Her soul had burned.

Blake didn't care, so fuck her!

That… that was how she felt anyway.

And yet her mind knew that while she was justified in how she felt, this… this was far too much. That had been clear when she'd touched Blake. "Sun." she whispered. "If I… if I ever put my hands on Blake against like that I need you to stop me."

"Yang," he said softly. "You know you wouldn't hurt her."

That was the thing though…. Yang honestly wasn't sure.

"It doesn't matter. Please Sun, if… if I ever look like I might-"

"Alright." He nodded. "I'll keep an eye out."

"… thank you." She sighed in relief.

This was so backwards. She was angry and she wanted to be angry.

She wanted Blake to know she was wrong, she wanted Blake to feel bad for what she'd done…

But the instant she'd grabbed Blake's arm, the moment she realised that she was considering smashing her fist through Blake's fa-

Even the thought of it clogged her throat.

She'd almost done it. Almost gone too far and… and…

It had terrified her.

She had been scared of what she'd almost done.

She didn't want to have another opportunity for it.

"Did you mean it?" Neptune asked suddenly. "What you said to her I mean, that you two were… done?"

She'd said that… hadn't she?

"Y-yeah." She nodded, ignoring the way her stomach dropped. "I… there are some things you just don't put up with, you know? I'm not dealing with that. I need to… I need to take care of myself first and that means… that means Blake needs to be out of the picture. She can… she can figure things out this way too. It's better for everyone."

She closed her eyes to banish the voice in the back of her head that told her she was being a coward, and so, she missed the look Sun and Neptune shared.

They weren't convinced. Not at all.

"Anyway," Sun coughed. "I think now's as good a time as any to go over what it is we're dealing with. You know what it is?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded, thankful to move onto the less personal topic. "I've got an idea. It's not something we've dealt with before but I'm pretty sure you know about it."

There was a beat of silence as they walked.

"Sooo…" Sun prompted. "Are you going to tell us or what?"

She smirked. "Now what kind of fun would that be?"

"Seriously?"

"Uh-huh. Listen, I'll list off the clues and you try to figure it out."

"Why don't you just tell us?"

"Because you need to study up." She said with a roll of her eyes. "You two don't have the Odyssium to help you. You might as well learn."

"Ugh, fine." He grumbled "Sheesh, I drop out of Haven and still have to talk classes. Gimme them then."

"Okay," she nodded. "Let's start out with the markings on the scene. Large grooves in the stone and ground over nineteen inches long and five inches deep. What do you say to that?"

Sun crossed his arms and hummed.

"Well I guess it used claws at least. It must have been pretty big, or at least had big… hands I'm guessing? How many marks were there together?"

"Four."

"Yeah, probably some sort of hand then. Nep, got anything?"

"It was probably done with speed." The blue haired teen tried. "If it was less five inches then it mustn't have gone deep. It could have sharp claws but if they were that long then I'd just say that the proportions of it should be normal… I think anyway. Was there anything left of the victim?"

"No, nothing but blood," she said, shaking her head. "But I think he's still alive."

The Faunus raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"I tasted his blood."

They winced.

"Ugh, Sun groaned. "I hate it when you do that. It's weird." He sighed. "What you get from it?"

"That it was fresh, and that the boy, Mata, wasn't dead when it was spilt. If it didn't kill him straight away then it probably wanted to take him home to feast on, and considering there were no body parts left behind it didn't want to waste anything."

Sun narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you thinking?

Yang sighed. "The mother said she and her son heard voices, her voice to be specific."

"So intelligence?"

"At least the rudimentary kind." She agreed, "But to be that much like the woman's voice it must have had some sort of ability for it…. Then there was what's been happening on the island."

"What do you mean?"

Neptune shuffled. "She means the food shortages."

"Exactly…. People are hungry, food and Lien is low and with so many new faces others were worried… some might have already been desperately hungry and been pushed over the edge into doing something stupid."

Sun's lip curled. "Cannibalism. You think someone was desperate enough for cannibalism?"

Yang looked away. "No offence Sun… but Faunus… well they've had some reactions… you've seen it haven't you?"

His eyes fell shut for a moment as he let out a long breath. "Yeah… I know how to deal with it but… it feels like Faunus are more susceptible to magic for some reason."

"One little mistake," Yang muttered. "One little taste would be all they need for it. Around twenty people have gone missing, my guess is the first wasn't a victim of the same fate as the rest."

There was silence between them, heavy, nervous.

Sun licked his lips.

"You think it's a Wendigo?"

"With all the evidence pointing to it? Yeah."

"We've never dealt with a Wendigo before." Neptune warned.

"I know." She said. "I've been doing as much reading as I can on them; they've got supernatural speed, Endurance and reflexes not to mention an insane hunters' sense."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you can't hide from them. Apparently they can hear your heartbeat from a mile away."

"Well that's not unsettling at all." Sun frowned.

The blonde shook her head. "Gets worse: Wendigo's are constantly starving, because they grow in proportion to what they eat. It means that they get bigger with every meal and will never give up on a kill because of their stomach."

The Faunus let out a hiss. "It's already eaten so many people by now though. How big will it be?"

"Don't know, but I'm not looking forward to finding out."

Neptune took a breath. "Okay, anything else we should know?"

"They're intelligent."

"Yeah, we got that already."

" _Human_ levels of intelligent."

"…oh."

"Yeah," she winced. "Oh is right. Since it used to be a human – or in this case Faunus – it understands what we're saying, it can listen to our callouts and recognise attacks, maybe even try to trick up somehow if we're not careful."

"Can it be reasoned with?" Neptune asked.

"If you think it'll get over it's mad starvation? I'd tell you to go ahead in any other circumstance, but it clearly hasn't been killing in self-defence."

The teen sagged for a moment, before sighing. "Okay… yeah I get it. Is that it then?"

"For how dangerous it is? Yeah. This is a big deal guys, Wendigo's are some of the worst."

"Does it have any weaknesses at least?"

"Possibly." She offered. "Silver should work just fine and it's supposed to have a frozen heart."

"So your fire will work?"

"Not as easy as I would hope for. One of the books said its skin is so cold it's resistant to heat, but its insides should be particularly flammable. It can regenerate though, so we'll need to work fast if we do manage to cut it open. The real issue is the aftercare."

"What's the procedure?"

"You brought the silver box?"

"Yeah, melted down all the silver I could find like you asked."

"Good, we'll need it."

"How come?"

"Because the Wendigo's a weird one. It's like, a physical thing, but it possesses people, takes over their body. If we're going to make sure it's finished off we need to smash its heart and bury it in that box and then deal with the body."

"I don't like where this is going."

"Yeah," she winced. "We need to dismember, salt and then burn the body before scattering the ashes."

Sun threw his hands into the air. "Why is everything with magic so pointlessly convoluted?"

She shrugged. "Beats me, if you wanna blame someone blame the gods."

The Faunus sighed as Neptune frowned. "So, how are we tracking it anyway? Are we even going the right way?"

"Oh yeah, trust me I can tell. Sun, you'll probably pick it up soon too with your senses."

"Can you?"

A nod. She could, her own senses were… well they weren't exactly human anymore. It had been small things back at Beacon, her sense of smell having been gifted a boost of some kind.

But over the months… her other senses had gotten the same treatment, they'd grown.

Yang could smell people's scents, she could taste blood and understand glimpses of its contents, she could hear the rustles of leaves from so far away, hear the fear on a person's breath, she could see farther, sharper than she could before. She had no night vision, but in every other aspect her sight could give a Faunus a run for their money.

And she could _feel_ more.

Of course, all of this was… well, it was amplified when she focused her magic into her heart. It wasn't all the time thankfully, else she might have feared going mad from the sensory overload. It was fain when she let it rest, but when her heart glowed with magic it became so much more.

Yang understood what it was. What Merlot had granted her.

Draconic senses.

The idea was as insane as it was incredible. Whether it had been intended she wasn't sure, but it was definitely useful to her in most situation. Now being one of them.

Yang could track. She felt proud of that fact, that she'd been able to develop that skill thanks to her sense meant that if she had an idea of what she was looking for, she'd been able to find it in most cases.

Here, she could feel the prickling on her skin.

The cold.

It wasn't so odd, they may have been in a jungle on a tropical island but it _was_ dark. It could get cold sometimes.

But the leaves should not be sprinkled with frost, of that she was certain.

"We're getting closer." She said suddenly. "Be on your guard and get ready for a fight."

"Right."

Sun and Neptune deployed their weapons on her order, keeping close as Yang quickened her pace. They were close now, she could feel the frost, see her breath in the air. They were feeling it now too. Wendigo's were creatura of the cold and this was the perfect sign for that.

And up ahead…

"What... is this?"

"A… mine I think."

"No Menagerie never broke into the mining business, a warehouse I think." Yang said. "They probably stored food hear ages ago… don't know why it'd be abandoned though… but I think we're in the right place."

The right place didn't look all too welcoming though it must have been one of their main storage houses because it was big, surpassing some of the lower trees above.

It looked old and rusted too; with broken and boarded up windows and holes in the walls that made it look like the whole building was about to fall through. This place had been left to fall by itself, people had decided to leave it be.

Why had it been abandoned in the first place if food shortages were a concern?

"So we doing it?"

Yang nodded, pulling back her sleeves, arming Ember Celica, and focusing her magic into her arm.

"Let's move."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Did we lose them?" Ilia asked.

"No," Blake whispered. "I lost sight of them but they're in that warehouse. Just stay close to me alright?"

"Got it." Her companion nodded.

It was slow going, but Blake had been able to catch sight of the mercenary trio before they'd made their way into the jungle. She was too far away to hear what they were saying, but thanks to her night vision Blake could at least see where they were going.

Thankfully that also meant that it was easier for them to hide in the undergrowth. Blake did her best to be invisible, discarding her white coat and hoping that the nightlights didn't give away too much. With half of her body made up of completely black skin it was easier than she had thought.

Ilia similarly hid, her skin and hair tinting black until all that was visible in the darkness were the whites of her eyes.

The chameleon Faunus had stuck close to Blake as they trailed the trio, but now she shuffled nervously and eyed the warehouse. They were still a way off, but Blake had managed to catch a mane of golden hair enter just minutes before.

"I don't like this." Ilia muttered.

"What?

"I said I don't like this," she repeated, louder this time. "Why are they out here? Why are _we_ out here?" A huff escaped her and the air in front of her fogged up. "We've been following them through this jungle for the last twenty minutes and now they stop as some creepy warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Is nobody else's survival instincts telling them this is a bad idea?"

"We'll be fine."

Ilia scowled. "Are all Huntsmen like this?"

"Huh?"

"Lacking any sort of self-preservation!"

Blake sighed. "Ilia if you don't want to be here then you can go. I can handle a Grimm just fine."

Ilia wasn't impressed. "Yeah right. Like hel I'm leaving you alone. With how reckless you usually are it's my job to pull you out of the fire."

"How am I reckless?"

"I'm sorry, what was that at the Vale docks crawling with White Fang?"

"Our team leader had been captured."

"I know, I was one of the people who wanted to kill them, that's not the point," she hissed, glazing over the little titbit of information Blake had _certainly_ not known. "You decided to go as a team of four Huntsmen-in-training instead of calling the police or letting the staff at Beacon know."

Blake scowled. "What's the point you're trying to make?"

"That it's suddenly become my job to make sure you don't jump headfirst into dangerous situations and get yourself killed."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

Ilia's mouth twitched downwards. "It's not about being asked to or not."

"What are you talking about, I can look after myself, you don't need to look after me."

Ilia hissed something under her breath, looking away.

"I'm starting to see where Yang was coming from."

"What was that?"

They were cut off by a bestial shriek and sliced through the silence like a knife.

Blake and Ilia nearly jumped out of their skin and the noise and snapped towards its direction.

It was coming from inside the warehouse.

Blake was already moving before Ilia could get in a word. The chameleon swore and rushed to follow as Blake ran for the warehouse.

Lights were flashing through the broken windows now and she could hear the sound of shouting and gunfire.

Blake wanted to rush straight in the front door, but she knew it was a bad idea. Ilia had called her reckless. Fine, she'd be more stubble here.

The cat Faunus unsheathed Gambol Shroud and swung her ribbon upwards. It sailed over the roof and sank into the metal. "Come on," she called back to Ilia as she clambered up the side of the wall, her ears flickering at the sounds of fighting inside.

"Would you slow down!?" Ilia pleaded, scrambling after her as Blake climbed onto the roof. "Why are we even up here anyway?"

"Just trust me okay?"

Blake was still moving, towards the centre of the building and raised her blades. She swiped down, cutting into the weak metal and sheering it open. Below as a walkway."

"In here, we can see what's going on from above."

Ilia followed as Blake hopped down the hole and the walkway rattled from her weight. It felt like it was going to fall away under her feet for a moment but thankfully settled enough that she felt safe to move. Ilia landed lightly behind her, eyes scanning around for threats.

The noises were coming from further in.

"Let's go." Blake whispered. "We can pounce on the Grimm from above if they need us."

Ilia wasn't listening, she was too busy looking around with wide eyes.

"I don't like this," she muttered. "It's wrong. There's something really wrong here." The chameleon girl swallowed, readying her whip as she looked to Blake.

"Dammit let's hurry up and take a look. If it looks like they can handle it themselves I'm not getting involved."

Blake gave a huff in frustration, but knew Ilia wasn't going to budge. She turned away. It didn't matter. Right now they just needed to see what was going on. There was light up ahead peaking over the dozens of hundreds of shelves. Flashes. Probably gunfire and the two blondes' semblances. Blake creped along the walkway, hands tightening on Gambol Shroud as they monstrous roars and cries got louder.

What kind of Grimm was that? It didn't sound like anything she'd hear before.

Right there, there was the end of the walkway, right over where the fighting was coming from. Blake came to it, gripping the rails and looking over the-

"What the fuck is _that_!?" Ilia whispered in horror.

She didn't know.

All she knew was that Yang was fighting it.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang ducked under a swipe that could have taken off her head, rolling away as the monster in front of her let out a scream of rage towards her.

Good, it was too focused on her to noticed Neptune slicing through its leg, making it stumble and giving her enough time to move away. The flesh knitted itself together before her eyes and she scowled.

She knew it would happen but it was still annoying.

…The fact that she referred to a ferocious, murderous monster healing its wounds every time the cut it as annoying was a sign of just how much of a downwards spiral her life was at the moment she was fairly sure.

The fact that she was only slightly horrified by the thing in front of her didn't help either.

She'd been right; it was a Wendigo, but it looked a lot more brutal than she thought it was going to be.

Like most of the creatura she'd gone up against its skin was an oily black, like any Grimm it emanated a black miasma from its pours but this… this went further.

Yang ducked under its claws again as it lunged at her and fired a shotgun shell at its face, launching herself backwards.

She suppressed a shiver as she shook her hands, gunk flying from her fingertips.

This was by far the most disgusting thing she'd ever seen:

It was _leaking_. Dripping black gunk and ooze like a rotting carcass and its skin was _sticky_. Every inch of it was walking pestilence. What was worse, was that it smelled how it looked, which meant that it was hard to focus when her stomach churned dangerously.

And still, it looked like a monster out of a nightmare.

It was huge, from all the poor souls it had devoured it was three, maybe four times her height, towering over her even with its crooked and hunched back. It had yellowish bones – its ribcage – sprouting out of its torso, so wicked and sharp Yang thought they might actually be used as a weapon.

Its whole body was gaunt, gnarled and twisted like it was malnourished, which just made its strength and speed even more ridiculous.

The beast turned to Sun as he summoned two clones to pelt its sides and Yang took the chance to focus magic into her fist.

There was no reason in holding back here, no point in reigning herself in.

Yang felt her heart pump wildly as she focused on her trigger.

 _Belladonna lilies blossomed in her mind._

Fire swirled on her palm and in and second where it roared to life she clamped it in her fist.

It burst out like an explosion, washing over her arm and all the way up to her elbow.

It had taken her months of practice months of understanding how to control, how to maintain her flames, but Yang had the advantage of her arm and leg being obsidian instead of flesh. It gave her the chance to push herself further than she would have, faster than she could have.

It might not have been all too flashy, all too impressive, but it sure as hell was a step up.

Yang's right arm, and leg, was made out of flames.

She kicked off the ground hard and shot towards the Wendigo's back.

It noticed her attack and spun around to face her, lashing out with one hand to cut her out of the air.

Yang opened her palm and fired out a wave of sparks and shot her upwards and over its limb for her gauntlet to bring her back down like a hammer. Her flaming fist crashed into its shoulder and it screamed as its shoulder buckled and splintered. She reached out with her other hand and grabbed at its head, grabbing it hard and twisting.

The Wendigo shrieked as it lost its footing and tumbling to the ground. It was a momentary victory as Yang was caught in the chest by its elbow lashing out.

It threw her back and she let herself roll away, far enough for her to stand.

She'd hit it but could already hear the shoulder popping back into place.

If anything, she'd just made it angry, and judging from the way it glared at her, it knew how to hold a grudge.

Oh yeah, if there was one thing Yang hated most about the Wendigo, it was its face.

It was an elongated white skull, and it must have been a deer Faunus when it was human because the antlers that sprouted from its head were huge and vicious-looking. Its teeth were chipped and razor-like, each tooth looked like it could slice her open with ease.

It had human looking eyes though. That was the worst part.

Its eyes were bright and round and tired looking. It was as if someone was wearing a mask and she could see bits of the face around the eyes underneath.

It looked so _wrong_ in how suffering it looked, because Yang knew it wanted nothing more than to tear her open and feast on her insides.

This thing used to be a person, someone who had been desperate enough to eat someone else.

It was about time she put it out of its misery.

"Sun, Neptune, ruin its arms as much as possible while I deal with it!"

She didn't wait for an answer as she charged at the Wendigo, trusting that they would do as she asked.

The thing had stood up now, leering over her as she fired a round into its chest.

The dust didn't do much other than push it back, and with a roar the Wendigo leapt forward.

Yang dived, skidding under it and smashing a fist into its side. It grunted and sailed over her, pivoting as it landed and lunged again. Yang raised her guard and it hit her, knocking her off her feet even as she prepared herself to tank the hit. It sent her into one of the old selves behind her, knocking it down along with the several dozen shelves behind it. It gave her more room though, as she flipped backwards, landing on the shelving and kicking off it.

As she moved back the wooden shelf flew forward as a makeshift barrier between them.

The Wendigo blasted through it, splintering it as it charged onwards and making a pass to grab her in its scythe-like claws again.

The tips of its talons whispered past her face, close enough that she could almost feel them.

Sun came from above before it could reach her and swung down like an executioner with his staff.

The silver tip smashed into its forearm and its bone cracked under the force of both his strike and the silver carving through its body. The Wendigo cried out but before it could retaliate it fell forward.

Neptune had been behind it and cleaved through its ankle with his glaive.

It spasmed from the lighting that shocked through it for a moment and blood splashed onto the ground when Neptune had managed to cut.

It hit the ground hard and as it did Yang sun in the air. With eh feet behind her now she kicked off the next fallen shelf, catapulting herself forward and into the Wendigo's banc once again.

Sun smashed his weapon into its jaw to stun it as Neptune rained down as many blows cuts as possible, trying to cripple its movement.

Its skin sizzled under her fist and for a brief moment Yang thought the rest was history.

That idea was wiped out when suddenly a gust of wind and frost erupted from its wounds.

Yang was sent flying, as were Sun and Neptune, crashing through shelves as she landed hard on the floor.

She groaned, blinking the haze from her eyes. Damn. She'd landed on her head hadn't she?

The next second her body was screaming at her to move.

Trusting her indicts Yang threw herself to the side, gasping as the Wendigo's antlers clipped her side, sending her spinning as she hit the ground again before hurriedly scrambling onto her feet.

"Ow." She muttered. Her aura hard flared up in time to protect her but it had still winded her. The thing hit like a bullhead.

It had stopped now though.

Strangely, it was standing still, watching Yang but not moving. Considering it had been relentless up until this point Yang wasn't sure this was a good thing.

And then she noticed her surroundings.

Everything… was frozen.

Icicles and frost covered the walls, the ceiling and the floor. Everything was freezing.

Wendigo's had powers over the cold.

Yang hadn't thought it would be this severe though.

What was even the point in all of this?

It was _still_ watching her! Why was it doing that?

Yang frown and took a step forward.

She was immediately on the back foot as a spear of ice sliced through the air towards her. She twisted back in a way that nearly broke her spine, planting her hand on the ground as it melted the frost beneath and pushing off, just in time to hop over the blade of frost that could have removed her hand from her wrist, or at least dug into the obsidian.

"Guys!" She yelled out a warning. "It can control the ice like a weapon!"

"Are you serious?!" Sun cried as he wrapped his tail around one of the railings above. "Territory control? Since when could physical creatures do that?"

"Dammit." Neptune swore, climbing up on top of one of the fallen shelves and scanning his surroundings for surprise attacks "It's a spirit too remember? Who knows what else it can do?"

"It looks like the damage we did is gone and healed up too." The monkey Faunus glowered.

Yang's eyes narrowed. "No, I can see something. Little burn marks where you and me damage. Fire and Silver still works at least."

"Got any ideas then?"

Yeah she did.

"Neptune, how much silver have you got?"

"A few pounds of it why?"

"Do you think it would be enough to cover my hand if I melted it down?"

"...Gods dammit Yang."

"Let's try it out."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake was frozen. She couldn't move, her body _wouldn't_ move, and even though she shivered madly it wasn't because of the cold.

She was terrified of the thing down below.

It was like nothing she'd ever seen, faster and stronger than any Grimm she'd ever seen in her life and screeching like an animal in its death throes every time it drew breath.

It was wrong. Just looking at it Blake could tell it was wrong, her blackened side writhed and shuttered as if alive, trying to draw her away from the ledge.

Blake didn't know what was going on.

But she knew that that monster wasn't a Grimm. Grimm couldn't freeze things, they couldn't regenerate broken bones and close opened wounds.

 _This_ was the thing that had been killing Menageries people?

She looked back at Ilia, who'd dropped her camouflage. Her face looked pale, and Blake wasn't convinced it was her Faunus heritage that was doing it.

Ilia looked over the edge, even as she shook like a leaf. "Those three are fighting that thing… they… they're going up against _that_."

Blake swallowed. She was right. Sun, Neptune and Yang were right in the thick of it fighting tooth and nail against that monster without a hint of fear.

How?

This thing had killed so many people! it had taken another one just hours ago and-

Wait…

"Ilia," she whispered. "We need to get to the other side of the warehouse."

"What!?" the other girl hissed, eyes wide. "You want us to try and sneak past this thing? Why?"

"Yang said it mightn't have eaten its last victim yet. If we can get past we can find them and get them out."

"And then what? How is just waiting up here for them to kill the thing going to make a difference or not?"

"I don't know." Blake growled. "it just is. Just- I'm going. Are you going to help me or not?"

Ilia bit her lips so hard it bled.

"Fine. But one of these days Belladonna you're going to get me killed."

A twisted smile spread across her face. "Let's hope it's not today."

Another more human roar sounded below and they looked down in time to see Yang leap through the air. Her hair blazed brightly from her semblance, her leg burned with wildfire and her fist was covered in molten silver.

Her first met the monsters, melting it on contact with a wet gurgle as it shrieked in rage.

"Let's go!"

Ilia followed her lead as she kicked off the railings, latching onto the rafters just above her and hoisting herself up. She spread out her arms, balancing on the beams and hurried over them, over the fight below.

Ilia grunted as she followed, looking down nervously. The former White Fang member was easily considered athletic, had near perfect balance, and yet with the danger of falling meaning she'd land in the middle of _that_ , her nervousness was palpable.

"Who do you even know this is where we're supposed to be going?"

That… was a good question. How _did_ Blake know where she was going?

The answer…. Was that she didn't. Or she did, but not for any real reason. It was like a gut reaction, except she knew it wasn't. It… it was something she just knew, something that drew her towards the other side of the warehouse.

' _Please be trustworthy'_ she begged. _'Please let this feeling be real.'_

Her lift side… it wasn't in her control sometimes, it acted on its own and it had… it had done things she hated it for.

But it had helped her too, twice now.

She hoped – begged even – that it would do so again.

The side of her neck stung as blackened webs crawled up the side of her face. There was an itch, as if nothing… something was brushing over her eye.

And then she could _see_ things.

She wasn't even sure what it was, it was like… a layer, a creep, spreading across the walls and ceiling. It was like a black crust spindling outwards from somewhere.

The origin, wherever it was, she was getting closer to it.

"Hey, Blake… do you… see that?"

She did. It was a light, faint, barely visible even to her, at the other end of the room. There was a shadow too, a shadow of a person. She frowned. As they got closer she could just make out their Faunus features… they looked like-

Blake's eyes widened.

"Mata!"

"What?! It' him?"

Blake didn't answer, jumping down in front of the body.

It _was_ Mata. She hadn't even realised was him that had been taken. He… looked pale. His clothes were ripped and there was a long, nasty looking cut across his shoulder and running down his chest. It was covered in crusted blood. It was his.

Ilia landed beside her just as quietly and when she saw him she swallowed. "Oh god… is he…"

Blake bent down, pressing her ears against the boys' chest.

After a moment…

She sagged in relief.

"He's alive." She said, letting out a breath. "He's unconscious, but his heart's beating fine… I guess the thing wanted him fresh when it finally got around to eating him."

Another roar and crack of gunfire reminded them what was going on behind them.

Blake lifted Mata gently before handing him to Ilia. "Get him out of here and back home. Get him to a doctor okay?"

"Right." She nodded. "But what about you?"

"Huh?"

"I can see it Blake," something crossed over Ilia's face. "You're not planning on leaving yet are you?"

She wasn't.

"Just go. I'll be back later."

There was a pause.

"You better be." She muttered, jogging away with Mata and vanishing into the shadows. She'd be able to get out fine. Now it was just a matter of making sure that monster wasn't around to come back for them.

She readied Gambol Shroud and made her way closer to the sounds of fighting that still raged on, making sure to keep herself in the shadows as much as she could and using the crated and scattered containers as cover as best she could.

She was close enough now to peak her head out, just in time to see Yang crash a fist into the monster's side. It skidded in the opposite direction, feet crunching across the ground but that didn't seem to be as much as a problem for it as the liquid silver than splashed off Yang's arm and onto its skin.

Blake could see the smoke from here, and the smell of rot melting nearly made her gag..

It reached out to grab at Yang but the brawler sidestepped it quickly, clamping onto its wrist and pulling hard. It straightened out and Neptune dashed in, cleaving the beast at the write and severing it.

There was a gurgled screech from the creature as it reeled back and Sun suddenly attacked with a barrage of clones at his side.

They forced the monster back and Blake watched as it leapt to the other side of the room. Her skin crawled as its hand regrew from its stump, cracking and popping wetly as it did.

She watched it as its eyes bore into the trio who faced off with it and watched as it growled, lowering itself onto all fours.

What was it doing?

Suddenly there was a gust of wind that forced Blake to cover her face, frost riding on the air and flakes were starting to spread across her skin.

It was worse for the mercenary trio, as the sudden gale knocked them back and forced them to evade the ice lances that speared towards them.

Yang growled as she battled away an icicle that flew too close to her face. The ground around her was layered in a sheet of ice, while around her in a small circle her foot melted it, forming a puddle around her feet that steamed and sizzled.

"It's planning something." She warned. "Sun, Neptune, I need you to slow it enough so I can get a hold of it."

"How are we meant to do that?!" Neptune spat, ducking as a freezing projectile sailed overhead. "You have fore but it's kinda hard to get a good grip for us."

"You have salt, don't you? Use it on the floor, maybe we'll get lucky and it'll have an effect on this thing too."

The teen made to say something, but was cut off when the Wendigo charged forward so fast Blake almost missed it spring forward.

Yang clearly didn't because she was already moving, raising her fists and ducking low into a boxer's stance.

She bobbed under a swipe and crashed a right hook into the monster's face, she sidestepped and jabbed forward with her left, Ember Celica cracking loudly and knocking away it's fangs as they tried to sink into her shoulder.

The Wendigo reared up abruptly and tried to stab at Yang's head, it's talons slicing through the air dangerously.

The brawler was quick to react, rolling back and slamming her hand into the ground. The liquid silver on her arm shot out was her hand was engulfed in flames again, but this time, the fire was thrown forward, riding the silver and washing over the Wendigo like molten slag.

They gave it no reprieve, Sun and Neptune fired into its chest and blowing burning its skin.

A guttural cry escaped the beast as it was forced to the ground but before Yang could take advantage of its weakness a wall of ice sprouted up between them.

"Son of a-" Yang cut herself off with a growl. "Break this damn wall down before it can heal itself!"

Gunfire racketed off it a second later on her command, and she extended her arm, hurling a stream of fire towards the icy barrier, carving a crater into it with each second. It wouldn't take long for them to break through and-

Wait… wait a minute.

Something was wrong. Blake could feel her skin tingle and her side writhed with… something. A warning? A premonition?

What was it trying to tell her?

Her eyes were drawn to Yang, to the frost that was… swirling around her feet. Her fire, that impossible fire that was spewing from her leg was… waning, getting weaker. The cold… it was being focused, trying to snuff out the flames.

And it was working.

But why?

That creature had gone practically silence behind its wall. Blake could see the outline of the creature just barely from through the ice and it wasn't moving. It was watching… waiting for… something. It was looking at Yang's feet.

This… this was a tra-

There was a shattering sound as the wall of ice collapse in on itself and in the same instance water splashed onto Yang's legs, dousing her flames and solidifying unnaturally fast.

"Shit!" Yang cursed. She was trapped in place, and the ice was webbing up her leg and beneath her clothes.

The Wendigo moved.

Its claws were outstretched, and its jaw unhinged itself, intent on ripping Yang in half as it tore towards her.

Sun and Neptune cried out a warning, but they hadn't realised Yang was frozen in place.

Blake had.

And she was already moving.

She didn't know what she was doing. Blake didn't have a plan, an idea or even a notion of what she was supposed to do but none of it mattered. She sprinted, hurling herself towards Yang.

She wrapped her arms around the blonde as she crashed into her the instant before the Wendigo slashed down at them.

The aura that flared through Blake was nearly instinctual, but it was familiar, very familiar. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in months.

Blake _blinked_.

Her vision was swallowed by shadow as something was _expelled_ from her body.

She felt Yang in her arms, felt how she was carried with her and they were _shifted_ forward.

They slipped past the Wendigo as it crashed into the far wall.

Blake coughed as they dropped out of the shadows surrounding them, skidding across the ice before coming to a stop.

She groaned as Yang pushed herself up and shook her head.

"Wha- what was, Blake?" the blonde's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?!"

The Faunus coughed, something felt like it was stuck at the back of her throat and it felt like something was… smoking off of her. That black miasma was wafting off her side.

What was that? What had she just done? Or more importantly how?

Her vision was still bleary as she tried to regain her bearings. They'd moved, not just from the ice but from whatever had just happened. They'd moved several meters from their last spot.

How.

"I-"

"I can't believe this." Yang swore. "I told you I didn't want anything to do with you and you show up _now_ of all times? Do you even realise how bad of an idea it is for you of all people to be near this thing?"

"Yang focus!" Sun shouted. "Argue when this thing's dead."

"Fine," Yang growled, glaring at Blake. "if you're here then you better damn-well help."

"R-right." Blake nodded, breathing heavily. "Just tell me what you need me to do."

"Every time we hit it the bastard heals up, but it's been getting slower every time it does. It's losing energy, getting tired. As long as it doesn't start eating we can wear it out."

"No danger of that for anyone but us." Blake said. "We, I sent Ilia back with Mata. We found him and got him out of here."

"You did?" Yang blinked, looking genuinely surprised. "Alright then, we can focus on this guy without worrying about collateral then. Just say as far away from it as you can and start shooting."

Blake frowned. She could get up close and fight, she wasn't some weakling, yang knew that.

But she'd just said she'd do what she was told hadn't she?

"Alright," she agreed reluctantly. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Yang didn't hear her, she was already stepping forward to meet the Wendigo as it stood up, shaking away it's dizziness from having collided with the wall.

Now that yang had mentioned it, Blake noticed how its movement was different; it was stuttered, weaker now than it had been before.

It certainly looked angry now, but Yang did her job, lighting up her hair, as well as her limbs once again, drawing its attention.

Neptune hoisted himself up onto the walkways above a Blake did the same, Gambol Shroud shifting into its ranged form. Blake grimaced. Her gun wasn't going to do much damage like this but Yang didn't want her down there.

She had to do as much as she could.

She glanced over at Neptune. "What is Yang going to do? Can she take it?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "As long as she can get in one good hit, she'll be fine. Sun can watch her back. All we need to do is cover her."

"…Right."

She'd just have to watch then as Yang engaged the foe.

The Wendigo roared, and Yang returned it with her own, slamming her fist down on the Wendigo as it slashed at her.

Her knuckles skimmed it as the beast leaned to the side and struck her shoulder with its antlers. Her aura flared up but even so it was fast enough that it cut into her coat before it could properly shield her.

There was a red tint on the tips of the Wendigo's antlers now.

"Sun back me up!"

"I'm on it!"

There was a flash as Sun sped forward with his clones, slamming into the Wendigo's side and sending it stumbling back. Yang attacked from the other side, Ember Celica shooting her forward fast enough and hard enough that her uppercut lifted the Wendigo off its feet for just a moment.

It growled in pain as Yang pushed forward, steeping within its reach and shoving a fireball into its chest, again and again and again, each one exploding violently upon contact.

Winds coming from nowhere raged around them, fighting to douse the flames with front and cover the wounds that burned and sizzled its skin.

Ice burst out of the ground, trying to stab at them from behind. Sun's staff spun protectively behind Yang, protecting her back as she hammered down blow after blow.

The creatura's bones splintered beneath, the skeleton piecing out of its skin. Yang quickly snatched hold of the bones and yanked hard, tearing them out before twisting them around and stabbing them back through the Wendigo's stomach. The sound it made was as furious as it was pained, but instead of falling back like it had each time before-

It lunged forward and grabbed a hold of Yang's arm.

There was a scraping sound as its talons ground against Yang obsidian arm but the more dangerous matter was when it lifted Yang off her feet and slammed her into the ground.

The stone beneath her cracked as her aura shuttered. She managed to hold it, if only barely. Sun cried out as a sudden controlled gale of wind threw him back.

The Wendigo raised Yang up as she struggled against it, kicking against it hard. It raised its mouth to bite at her.

"Crap," Neptune swore. "Blake go help her now!"

That little gift of permission was all she needed.

Blake leapt over the railings, kicking off them as she raised her sword and cleaver.

She crashed down on top of the monster as her swords sank into its neck.

It screamed.

Blake cried out as the sound nearly shattered her eardrums and she lost her footing. Still with her grip on her weapons they slid down, cleaving through the flesh and muscle on its back all the way down as she fell.

Something, she wasn't sure what, pushed her into the air before she could land and the Wendigo spun to face her, eyes blazing with fury as it made to claw at her.

Her left arm snapped out and the creatura's talons sank through it, hooking into the dark flesh.

And they froze.

Blake… wasn't sure what was happening. It was- it was like she was being pulled in. her left side was writhing, not in pain but as if it was rejecting something inside her body. She could feel her heart pumping in her ears as her breath stifled.

The Wendigo wasn't moving either. It was shaking, stuttering and shaking madly.

What was…

What was-

"Get back!"

Yang's hand clamped down on Blake's shoulder, yanking her back. The Wendigo's talon was still dug into her arm and as she was pulled free black blood splashed onto the air.

Right as she was free everything came crashing back to her and suddenly she could hear the Wendigo scream again. Blake was frozen stiff as it lunged at her fallen form. It opened its jaws to bit down on her.

Yang was in front of her a second later.

She reached out and grabbed its antlers, aura smoking in her palms as she gripped tight.

Wait…. She was smoking from more than just her-

Yang opened her mouth.

And a hurricane of fire tore through the air and down the Wendigo's gullet.

Smoke and burning flesh and bone shot into the sky as its body spasmed and suddenly the flames burst through, dozens of flames streamed from the body like it had burst.

And suddenly it went limp.

And everything went quiet.

Yang dropped its body to the ground, breathing heavily as she stepped back. "Is everyone okay? Where's Sun?"

"I'm good." The monkey Faunus groaned, stumbling over. "Ow, I hit a wall hard. How do you do that all the time?"

"What I tell you? I'm tougher than you."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Oi Neptune, you coming down or what, we've still got things to do."

"Sure, on my way."

They kept talking but Blake heard none of it. She was too busy staring at Yang.

She'd… she'd just breathed fire! Actual fire!

How- _What was this!?_

The answer came quick, even if she didn't want to believe it. How could she not though? That thing was no Grimm, and after what she'd just seen…

"Magic." She whispered, as if the thought alone wasn't enough to keep her mind from running rampant.

Yang must have heard it, because she glanced over at Blake as she spoke and scowled.

"Right… you."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang cursed her own words as soon as she said them.

They were needlessly hostile.

Even though a swell of anger flowed through her Yang knew that feeling was illogical, ridiculous even. Blake had helped, and right now it wasn't the time to be so petty.

She had to force down her feelings, focus on the task at hand and think about it later.

"Anyway," she coughed. "We uh… we need to do some things here first. You said Ilia got the kid out of here right?"

"…Yes," Blake nodded, getting to her feet. "We agreed she should go back and bring him to a doctor while I… helped."

She had that much Yang couldn't deny.

"You did." She said, scratching the back of her head. "You uh… definitely helped my ass earlier and I mean, you did pretty good there cutting it up… which reminds me."

She turned to glare at Neptune. "Why the hel did you tell her to do that?"

"What?" the teen frowned. "You just said she helped!"

"Yeah she did but _you_ put her in danger. Do I need to remind you that the Wendigo is a spirit?"

Blake watched as Neptune suddenly paled. "Oh."

"Yeah," Yang repeated. " _Oh_. I know you just forgot because we were in a dangerous situation but next time you should think about it before you say anything."

Neptune's head dropped. "I… I'm sorry Yang."

She sighed. The fact that Blake looked confused about it put her at ease a little. "It doesn't matter. It's already done and done, and nothing went wrong. Come on, we need to deal with things and then we can get out of here."

"Good." Sun grumbled. "This cold is practically freezing my tail off."

Blake swallowed as they made their way over to the Wendigo's body. "What are you doing? It's already dead isn't it?"

"It is," Yang nodded. "but we gotta make sure it stays dead. It won't take long… and then we're gonna have to talk with people when we get back."

They went about their work and Blake watched as Sun drew a knife and carved into the beasts' chest. There was a wet popping sound as he dug his way through flesh and blood, and the way his face scrunched up the smell wasn't too pleasant from where he was standing. With a tug he managed to rip out its heart and brought out a small silver box.

After a moment he stuffed it in and handed it to Neptune, who carved something into the lid that she couldn't read, before digging his glaive into the ground, digging out the dirt before burying the box.

While he did that, Yang went about something a little messier. She got her hands dirty and _tore_ the corpse apart methodically; limb from limb, salting the blood and burning each piece steadily to ashes.

It was a… relatively disturbing process to watch, and yet somehow Blake could tell it was something that needed to be done.

A few minutes later though, they were done, and Yang wiped her hands off.

"Looks like we're done then."

"Good." Sun said. "When we get back I'm sleeping for a week."

"You do that." She grinned. "Be thankful at least, we didn't make too much of a mess."

Neptune blinked. "Are… you kidding?"

Yang blinked in return. "What?"

"You… haven't noticed?"

She frowned. "Noticed what? Speak in full sentences here Nep."

"It's just that uh… there." He said, pointing at the top of his head.

Yang blinked, slowly and took a handful of her hair, bringing it in front of her.

Blake swallowed. Her hair was matted with soot and a strange black gunk.

It had covered her head when Blake had grabbed her earlier. Whatever she'd one had left a few… dirty marks on the blonde.

Yang seemed to realised she was the culprit a moment later and turned to her, eye twitching dangerously.

"U-um… oops?"

Yang didn't look impressed.

"There better be a working shower in your home."

* * *

…

…

* * *

They arrived home without any further incidents and Yang made a B-line straight for the shower as soon as Blake pointed it out, brushing past the concerned faces of her mother and father. It might have been because of the look on Yang's face but hey, everyone knew Yang liked her hair _a lot_ more than most people would have.

"What happened?" Her mother asked. "Is everything alright?"

Blake managed a smile at her as Sun and Neptune made their way further into the house and she took a moment to savour the warmth after the frost she'd just dealt with.

"It's fine. At least I think so. They… they dealt with the thing that was hurting people." Blake looked around. "Is Ilia here?"

"She is." Her father nodded. "She came back with that boy earlier. He's being treated and she's waiting in the living room."

"That's good." Sun said, approaching them. "Listen, Yang's probably gonna be done in like, ten, twenty minutes. We need to talk when she comes out. Can you guys uh, go find Sienna and meet us in the living room to talk?"

Her parents shared a look. "We can do that, just give us a few minutes."

Blake left them to it, going to check on Ilia. She found her in the living room like her parents had said, sitting on the couch with tea in her hands.

The chameleon Faunus saw her and smiled in relief. "Blake, thank god. I was so worried about you. They managed it then?"

"They did, amazingly. It might have been touch-and-go for a moment at the end there but I think but they managed."

Ilia relaxed a little at that. "It's dead then."

"That's what they said." She nodded, moving around the couch, practically falling into it beside Ilia. She still felt cold even as the house and tropical weather of Menagerie was starting to warm her bones again. It was still night, so it was slow going. "There were a… few things they did afterwards, to make sure it was dead I think."

"What like double-tapping?"

"Kind of? I'm not sure. Yang said it was… a spirit."

"A… spirit." Ilia repeated.

Blake bit her lip. "Ilia… do… do you know what we saw back there?"

"…"

"Ilia?"

"I don't know Blake," she sighed. "I'm not even sure what we say."

"Yang called it a Wendigo."

"A Wendigo… right, whatever _that_ is. I don't know much about Grimm, you probably know a lot more than me but I'm pretty sure I'd have heard if they could control _the weather_!"

"I mean, I technically didn't even finish my first year as a Huntress." Blake tried to joke, but when met with Ilia's unimpressed stare she coughed, clearing her throat. "But you're right… I've never seen anything like that. And then what Yang could do I… I mean she could always… use fire. It was a part of her semblance you know? It was always her hair, and then I thought that she just learned how to use it better later on but this was… so much more. She was throwing it around and everything."

"I could see that."

There was a pause between them.

"I guess she was telling the truth then, wasn't she?"

Blake closed her eyes and gave out a heavy sigh. "Yes…. She was."

A few minutes later there was the sound of angrily stomping feet and Sienna stormed in, looking around.

"Well?" she asked. "Where is she?"

"Taking a shower." Blake said. "We were told to wait here while she cleans up."

The tiger Faunus clenched her jaw tight. "She expects us to wait for her?"

The younger Faunus winced. "It was messy work."

Sienna frowned as her parents walked into the room behind her. "Calm down Sienna. You're far too high strung for the situation." Ghira chastised. "As far as I can tell she succeeded, didn't she?"

Sienna grunted, flopping down onto the couch opposite Blake and Ilia and crossing her arms. "Subordinates are supposed to report on things immediately, not play around and waste time."

"Well they aren't really your subordinates are they?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Really Kali? _That's_ the angle you're going for? You're paying them, remember? You should at least expect them to be punctual. We should know if they dealt with the treat you asked them to."

"We did, but you've got other concerns right now."

Blake nearly jumped out of her seat at Sun's voice. Seriously, how did he manage to sneak up on her?

The others seemingly felt the same way, snapping around to see the monkey Faunus lean against the doorway, Neptune beside him.

He gave them a little wave. "Hey. Yang's only going to be another few minutes."

"Thank you." Ghira nodded before Sienna could say anything. She glared at him and scowled.

Sun glanced at Ilia and Blake. "Are you two doing okay?"

"Uh," Ilia blinked. "Yeah, sure, we're fine."

"That's good." Neptune hummed. "You never know sometimes with what things like that can do. You can breathe in frost at best and… well, nothing things at worst."

Ilia shifted in her seat. "So… you guys deal with things like that regularly?"

Neptune winced. "That one in particular? No, that was a new experience but things _like_ it, yeah."

Blake shivered. "And that's… what you do on your jobs?"

Sun nodded for him. "Like we told you earlier. Those sorts of problems are popping up more and more all over the place."

"I feel like you're deliberately excluding us from the conversation." Sienna grumbled, glaring at Sun and Neptune.

The blond Faunus shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, but we kind of leave it up to Yang to talk about things like this."

"What do you leave up to me?"

Blake's eyes snapped to Yang as she entered the room and she nearly choked then and there.

Yang was just out of the shower it looked like if the wet hair was anything to go by. It was tied up in a wild-looking ponytail so that it wasn't draped over her bare shoulders, and Blake had to fight to tear her eyes away from them before she was caught.

It didn't help that she was wearing an orange tank top that showed off her defined muscles and was a little tight in certain areas Blake _definitely_ didn't want to be caught staring at.

She still wore her black pants, but had them rolled up above her knees, showing off her obsidian limb and a small scar above her knee.

That was a new one, Blake could tell.

"Just that we stick to the whole need-to-know basis thing unless you say otherwise."

"Oh, yeah, right," she shrugged and shot them a smile as she sat down on the last spare couch. "Sorry about that. It's just kind of the easiest way to do things. You can still ask what you want though, I can probably answer most of it fine."

"I understand." Ghira nodded. "Well I'm sure you have but I think it's probably good if I ask you personally. You dealt with the thing that's been troubling us haven't you?"

Yang nodded. "We did, and that was something I wanted to talk to you about actually."

"Oh?"

She sighed. "Listen, the thing that's been killing people, it was a person."

"What!?"

Blake and Ilia stared. They might have said something if it wasn't for the look Yang sent there way. She was technically telling the truth Blake could tell… somehow, but she was leaving out what it was they'd fought.

The way they had talked about it earlier though was making more sense.

That had been a person?

"Why would someone do that?" Kali asked, looking particularly concerned, as if she could sense something else was at play here.

Yang sighed. "There are plenty of reasons but if you want the one for the person who did this then look no further than what's been happening around here."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked around. You guys probably already know about the food shortages."

"We do." Sienna nodded. "I've been trying to work things out but it's been hard.

"Well you should probably prioritise it now, so that someone doesn't resort to… to cannibalism again."

Yang went on to explain what had happened, how someone had been desperate and hungry enough to devour their fellow Faunus. She described how they went mad after the first time, and developed something called Wendigo Psychosis. She didn't mention what a Wendigo was however, nor how the Faunus must have eventually turned into one.

Blake could figure it out though, even if she really would rather not have.

When she was finished explaining it, her dad sagged in his seat. "So this was caused by us then. Us and our mismanagement caused the deaths of so many people."

Yang shook her head before Blake's throat could even clench up.

Sun was the one to assure him however. "Don't think of things like that." He said. "There was absolutely no way you could have even known about this, and given the fact you've had to look after so many people you did better than you could have." He sighed. "it was only one guy. And even if he did a lot of damage it was only him who crossed the line onto something else. The fact that we didn't have others to deal with was lucky on our end."

Kali shifted. "Are you sure? Could there not be more people affected?"

Yang shook her head. "If there was, everybody on the island would already be dead."

That was… as dark thought, but morbidly comforting to Blake, if only because it assured her the threat was passed.

"As long as you make sure people won't resort to stuff like that again then you won't run into that problem again." Blake's parents shifted uncomfortably and in the end it was _Sienna_ who spoke.

"Then I suppose we owe you thanks. You did what we needed you to do and probably saved a great deal more people than we would have been able to."

Yang looked slightly surprised but took it in stride; She coulds understand that while the woman was standofish to Yang, she was stressed out too. It probably didn't warm her to a stranger and it felt like Sienna was just... well it didn't matter, either way she made a point of nodding thankfully. "Happy that I could help."

The Tigress nodded. "Well then… I suppose we should talk about how we should actually pay you then, since we didn't really discuss it when you first arrived.

"Actually I already have a request for that." Yang said.

"Oh?" Sienna prompted, raising an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"I don't think it's much, just that you would pay for our journey to Anima in about a months' time."

"Anima." The older woman repeated. "Not Mistral? They have a seaport there that would make travel outwards easier."

Yang let out a breath. "You guys really don't know."

Ghira frowned. "You said the same thing earlier today. We don't know what exactly?"

Sun and Neptune shared a look, before Yang decided to just say it.

"Mistral's been taken over. It's under control of the White Fang."

The five Faunus that had been unaware of that information surged to their feet.

"What!?"

"It's true." Sun nodded, looking grim at the thought. "We were in Anima once or twice for a job, but the second time I got a message from Sage and Scarlet. They're my teammates that decided to go back to Haven. The city's been taken over by the White Fang and whoever it is leading them, considering you're here Miss Khan, and with what people are talking about in Menagerie I think it's pretty safe to say it's Adam Taurus."

Sienna stared wide-eyed at them as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, and Blake couldn't blame her, neither could she.

"But what about Haven then?" Blake protested. "surely they wouldn't let something like this happen. They'd stop it wouldn't they?"

"They can't," Yang told them. "We don't know exactly what's happening, but from the message Scarlet and Sage managed to get out most of them have been captured and locked away. Some tried to get out and warn others and were killed for it."

"How do people not know about something like this if the whole cities been taken over?"

"Because communications been locked down and people aren't allowed in or out. The whole thing's been overseen by Leonardo Lionheart; the headmaster of Haven himself.

Ilia swallowed. "But why? Isn't he supposed to be one of the _best_ guys? You're telling me he's locking away his own students?"

"I am… He's a traitor." She confirmed, before sighing heavily, and Blake had a feeling she was about to drop another bombshell.

She was right.

"And he's been working for the same person who ordered the attack on Beacon."

* * *

…

…

* * *

After all the panic and shock had subsided, it had been nearly an hour, Blake's parents trying to figure out what they were going to do with the news. Blake honestly had no clue. Considering the revelations she'd had hours _before,_ this was just another thing to wrap her mind around.

Now though, there was something else occupying her thoughts.

Yang had excused herself and slipped out of the room to stand on the balcony. The moon was out, dipping in the sky. The Cat Faunus was beginning to realise she'd been up all night and she doubted she'd be the only one.

Right now however that wasn't important. Now, she stood at the door, watching Yang, as she in turn looked up at the sky, unsure of what do say or do.

Suddenly Yang sighed. "Are you just going to stand there or…?"

Blake flinched but swallowed the fear that wormed its way into her gut. How was it she felt less afraid of that Wendigo than she did now trying to talk to Yang?

All the same, being called out like that there wasn't much else she could do but walk up to the railings. She made sure to keep a good foot or two between them though, to give Yang her space.

The blonde didn't say anything, and because Blake didn't know _what_ to say they fell into a silence, an uncomfortable one Blake thought.

She cleared her throat. "I'm… sorry… for not believing you earlier."

Blake tried not to look, she really did, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Yang stiffen and her eyes flash red for a moment before fading back to lilac.

"It's fine I guess." Yang mumbled. "It was probably unfair to expect you to just believe something like magic of all things. It took me a lot longer to trust it when Ruby told me."

"I still should have been more willing to listen, and I shouldn't have said what I said… about… the pills and everything."

"I get it." She sighed, "It's fine." Then muttering under her breath. "You apologised for one thing you did at least."

Blake was pretty sure Yang had forgotten her superior hearing.

She coughed awkwardly, and Yang must have felt it because she winced and sighed again, stuffing her hands into her pants pockets.

"Listen… there's… something else I wanted to ask you. Sort of a favour."

Blake perked up instantly. "Of course! Anything."

"We can figure something else out if you say no but uh… Sun, Nep and I plan on meeting up with Ruby in Anima in about a month, around the time we're taking a ship there. I was wondering… if you'd let us crash here until we leave."

The Faunus turned to her in mild disbelief.

"You actually… want to stay here?"

"It's… more like Sun and Neptune wanted to," she explained hesitantly. "And considering the problems you guys are going to be dealing with, we thought it'd probably be good for your family's peace at mind if they could keep tabs on us easier. That's to say nothing about how Sun doesn't want to move yet after he basically dumped all his stuff in one of the rooms so…"

Yang shifted uncomfortably. "I mean if you don't want to that's completely fine-"

"You can stay!" Blake interrupted, before coughing to the side and trying again, her voice was a little quickly despite herself. "I mean I'm sure my parents would be happy to after all this and I mean, it'd probably be easier like you said. I'll go talk to them, now even."

"…Thanks."

Blake nodded, turning and hurrying back in eagerly.

It left Yang alone again out on the balcony to look up at the moon and after a moment to make sure she was alone, she covered her face with her hands and out a frustrated groan.

"Shit."

Why did things have to be so complicated?

* * *

…

…

* * *

Meridian tower was a colossal construction. It was huge, a marvel of old Atlesian engineering and construction. It wasn't the biggest, nor was it the most secure prison on Remnant, that title went to Bleakrock, the prison located in the deserts of Vacuo, but even so it was an impressive thing, especially considering it held but a single prisoner, and in its whole time, only three.

Penny didn't have access to all of it, but she had the keys to a good portion of the tower. Not that she took advantage of that usually. Weiss' room was well over a hundred floors up, and she only ever had access to three floors in total, two of them being nothing more than basic facilities for survival.

The hundred or so below were as large and spacious as they were empty and lines with only Atlesian Knights watching the halls. Penny didn't like them, they were empty things. They disturbed her somehow. Perhaps it was how they were created in the same fundamental way, and yet were so different.

In fact it was only the first five floors that housed actual human soldiers, with their facilities, barracks and armoury all open to them at any time.

Penny didn't really like them either since they had a less than stellar opinion of Weiss. Penny was walking the halls currently, coming back from her daily viewing of her predecessor's memory banks when was subjected to listening to the words of two such men who hadn't seen her yet.

"The fact that we're out here is enough for me to see the higher-ups don't care about us. I mean what are we even doing here?"

"Would you relax?" The other one said. "It's not like the officers know us personally, they sent people here that were qualified."

"Oh yeah, qualified for guard duty, great."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe the snow, snow, and more snow in every direction for miles and nothing else _but_ snow! And it's not like we're doing anything important."

"Uh, you do know we're guarding Weiss Schnee? The Heiress? That ringing any bells?"

"So what?" The first one snorted. The one Penny was deciding she didn't like. "This place is already chockfull of robots. Why do they need us to keep one girl in here?"

"I'd like to think we're protecting her." The second one mumbled.

The first didn't sound impressed. "From what exactly? You hear what happened right? How she killed all those people?"

"It was a lab accident wasn't it?"

" _Sure,"_ the guard said sarcastically. "That's why she's still here. I'm telling you she's some kind of psycho. They'd be better off getting rid of her."

"You can't' say that!"

"Why not?"

"She's under general Ironwoods protection."

"The tin man? So what? Everybody knows his days are numbered as a general. The council already wants rid of him for blocking the borders."

"I don't."

"Yeah well everybody that matters does. You might want to stop saying how much you like em' sooner rather than later."

"What are you saying?"

Penny had had enough. She walked past them briskly, ignoring how they suddenly snapped to attention at her presence and made her way towards the elevator.

The doors shut behind her and she let out a breath. She was well aware that she didn't actually need to breathe but it made her feel slightly better. Which was another thing-

Penny was particularly angry.

That she could feel angry at all was something she probably should have been amazed by, but she was too angry about the matter at hand to care.

How dare they speak about Weiss like that. Weiss was a victim. Weiss was her friend!

… She was wasn't she?

Weiss might not have thought the same about her, she probably saw her as nothing but a copy of the original Penny, and, she was.

But Penny felt the way she did regardless. Weiss was her friend, and instead of being there for her the way a friend should have been, she was her warden, her jailor and a threat to her. She knew that in reality Weiss saw herself as a prisoner here, and she was.

It was about time she did something about that.

Something in her chest sparked to awake.

And Penny's eyes shone with life.

* * *

...

 **So first off, the Wendigo.**

 **I'm not sure If I puled off exactly what a monster like that should be like, that's up for you to decide but I tried my best. I did as much research as I could on it and there are some pretty interesting things about them aparently Wendigo psychosis is a thing but the legitimacy of it is still debated by people. Crazy thought though.**

 **I know people in the cominuty are waiting for Miles and Kerry to add the Wendigo into RWBY proper. Who knows, Atlas is covered in snow, maybe in Volume 7.**

 **The idea of Yang breathing fire was one I had a year ago when I saw some amazing are done by someone I can't rememeber the name of. It'll probably be one of the first if you look it up though and I wanted to include itin this scene ever since. (I had this scene in mind ever since I started the story but again I'm not sure if it lived up to it. That's for you to decide)**

 **Everything else is slowly building up to something else, and sooner or late Yang and Blake are going to have to have a _proper_ talk.**

 **We'll see how that goes down.**

 **Now I'm off to write some for Cloaks & Daggers and _try_ to get some Unbroken in (If I could stop procrasinatiing I'd get so much more work done) but I'm looking foward to the next chapter, We'll be getting back to our favourite red and her band of criminals soon.**

 **Until then, I hope you enjoyed.**


	48. On our way: Part 1

**So I just got finished watching chapter 7, and while I won't spoil it, it's good.**

 **I will** on the other hand **spoil chapter 6, so if you haven't seen it, go see it.**

 **The Apathy Grimm, are some of the best conceptual** idea's **for Grimm I've seen yet. To me the ability to drain people of the will to go one is genius. I** makes **me wonder what else Miles and Kerry can come up with. I'm a little disappointed they didn't make reference to the headless horseman beyond the farm but hey, you get what you can.**

 **I'm busy at the moment so there's not much I can talk about but I will say that so far V6 has in my opinion been one of if not the best volume. that can still change obviously but the first half at least has been very strong. the only thing that has** anyoyed **me this volume hasn't been with the show, but with things surrounding it;**

 **First, the shipping.**

 **No, no people shipping themselves, I'm totally fine with that, but I beg you RT, confirm a ship already. I mean they did it with Ren and Nora but they're side characters so it doesn't count.**

 **I mean I like shipping, I really do, and you can probably guess I'm a bumblebee shipper, but I would rather had Blake and Yang flat out say no, they're not getting together instead of the constant will-they-won't they rubbish. I mean if you ship Black sun that's what, at least three volumes, three more years until we see Sun again when they eventually get to Vacuo?**

 **Listen RT, shipping is great, it is, but actual development and plot focused romance and relationship building are in my opinion far better. So like, I may be a little biased, but hurry up and confirm Bumblebee and actually develop them instead of having us wait three years until you go back to the god-awful perceived love triangle.**

 **My second problem, is related to Yang again, and the FNDM. What is it with people complaining about how she's been bitchy this volume? I mean, seriously, people can't stop complaining about her attitude. Guys, come on, one of the symptoms of PTSD is elevated levels of irritation, especially in stressful situation, like finding out that the big bad can't be killed, that the one guy you told not to lie is still lying or, you know, being stuck in the cold with no idea what to do. I mightn't have brought this up it wasn't for the fact that** apparentl **y people with actual PTSD have been singing the show's praise for how they've been presenting it.**

 **I don't know. I realise this is a bit ranty but I guess I'm just more on Yang's side on this. I'm not as proactive as Yang, but I feel like I have the same thought pattern as she does in the show. Or it might just because I never trusted Ozpin and, still kind of don't. I can see him being a sacrifice the few for the many that while I would support if he was, say, Emiya Kiritsugu, some who actualyl got results most of the time I'd be fine with it, but Her's been losing this whole time, at stalmat at best, so I don't... yeah.**

Als **o I just got Darkest Dungeon yesterday and have been obsessed with that for hours. It's pretty good.**

 **So, that's all. Hope you enjoy the chapter**

* * *

...

* * *

Patch was a peaceful place at this time of year.

The last summer month was one many residents associated with greenery, warm rays of sunlight and the soft cool breeze that hinted the transition into fall.

For many of the people living in Patch this was the standard, the norm and usually encourage a nice sort of laziness for them. A time where they could just sit back on the porch and enjoy the day.

That could not be said for the residents of the Xiao-Long household however.

" _Roman_!"

Ruby looked up and blinked owlishly, unsure how she was supposed to react when faced with two criminal thieves running out of the house towards her at high speed.

Roman and Neo looked panicked over something, and in all honestly Ruby was thinking that they probably deserved whatever punishment they were running from.

The fact that they saw her and took the chance to _dive_ behind her put a damper on the idea of seeing that however.

"Help us out here Red!" the thief hissed.

Ruby let out a groan. "What did you even do?"

"Well-"

" _Roman!"_ the scream came again, closer this time and Ruby caught sight of a _very_ irritated Cinder storming towards them.

Wait… were Roman and Neo using her as a human shield?

The half-maiden came to a stop a few feet in front of her and glared in a way Ruby wasn't entirely comfortable with considering the fact she was between them.

"Ruby," Cinder said slowly. "Could you please step aside while I burn Roman to a crisp?"

"Cinder." The younger girl sighed. "You can't incinerate Roman and Neo."

"Good choice Red!" the thief congratulated from behind her. Neo nodded along quickly.

Cinder didn't look dissuaded however. "It wouldn't take long. You wouldn't even notice it for long. Just one quick immolation and suffering on his part and it's over, no fuss."

"I heavily disagree with that!" Roman rebuked.

"I still can't let you do it Cinder." Ruby shook her head. "I know they probably did something stupid but that doesn't mean you can just kill the both of them for it."

"Not the both of them, just Roman." Cinder told her. "Neo is innocent of any trespasses this time."

At that the multi-coloured girl perked up and smiled brightly, stepping away from Ruby's back and over to the sidelines to watch. Roman was not pleased.

"You traitor!"

He got a shrug in response.

"No can I melt him?"

"What did he even do?"

"I did nothing!"

The dark haired woman scowled. "He called me fat!"

"What?"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"I didn't!" the thief howled his innocence to the sky. "I said that new outfit you made looked like it filled in a lot better than the last one."

"I specifically heard the word fat, Roman."

"I was referring to the fact that those certain aspects were _made_ of fat."

"How is that any better!?"

"It definitely is!"

Ruby palmed her forehead with her good hand. "You two are dangerous criminals, deadly combatants and grown adults. Why do you do this every single day?"

Neo scoffed. _"This is what happens when you let said dangerous criminals and deadly combatants do nothing but sit twiddling their thumbs on the most peaceful island on Remnant. It's a wonder they haven't burned the forests down yet. The adult part is pretty much non-existent for these two anyway."_

Ruby just sighed. "That's doesn't help me Neo. Can't you help me with this?"

" _Can? Definitely. Will I when I can just sit back and enjoy the show? Nah."_ The girl grinned. _"You could always stand over her with me and enjoy it with me. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe, besides I know you like to watch."_

Ruby flushed at the double meaning, and was thankful that Roman and Cinder were too preoccupied in their stalemate to notice Neo's 'words' for the moment.

"Sometimes I regret ever having learned how to understand you, you know that Neo?"

The shorter girl just winked.

"So can you move aside already?"

"Just drop it Cinder." Ruby sighed. "Even if you were _totally_ justified dad would be mad if he had to clean it up."

Roman frowned. "Your concern is apricated Red."

"Oh, be quiet you. You knew you'd annoy Cinder like this."

"…Fine." Cinder grumbled, extinguishing the flame in her palm and shooting one last glare at the thief as he finally came out from behind the smaller girl.

"Good," Ruby smiled. "So can we talk about what we're doing today? Roman, you said you had good news this morning at breakfast."

"Yep," he said, tipping his bowler's cap to her. "Your resident charming criminal mastermind finally got everything ready. I 'borrowed' a bullhead from some people who owed me a favour."

"You stole it didn't you?"

"I did." He admitted shamelessly.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "And? What else."

He smirked. "I heard an interesting little tidbit from one of my informants just out of Atlas. He had ins with a few of the military boys in high places and found some interesting coordinates. Apparently this is where the ice queen's being held."

"Weiss?" Ruby perked up, before blinking. "Wait, what do you mean held?"

Roman shrugged. "No idea honestly. She's at Meridian tower. No clue as to why but apparently dear old Jimmy wanted her there."

That was… strange. Ruby admittedly didn't know much about Atlas, but she knew Meridian tower wasn't a place people ended up… ever. If the general of all people, wanted _Weiss_ of all people there then something was going on. Something she wasn't getting. It didn't matter anyway, not really. Ruby had already planned on breaking Weiss out of her mansion since she knew her father probably wouldn't let her leave. This would just be slightly tougher.

"So what's going on with the general then?" she asked. "How's he been managing after the Fall of Beacon?"

"Again, not much information," Roman sighed. "My little bird wanted out of Atlas but didn't have a real reason why. Not one he wanted to give me anyway and I could have probably gotten a reason out of him but you told me I wasn't allowed to break anyone's fingers."

"And I'm happy you didn't." Ruby thanked him.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Next time I'm bringing Neo. She'd do it no problem."

Both of them turned to the diminutive girl upon mentioning her, and the mismatched devil smiled cheekily back.

"Fine." She sighed. "It's not like I can stop you… did you at least get _something_ else out of him?"

"Just that apparently tensions are getting pretty high, nothing nobody didn't already know, but at least we got a lead to follow here."

"You're right." Ruby admitted. "We know where to go at least. So we just have to prepare for a trip to Atlas."

"I still don't see why we need to go to Atlas anyway." Cinder grumbled.

The younger girl blinked and turned to her. "Cinder, we need to find Weiss."

"Why?" the maiden frowned. "As far as I can see she has nothing to do with this. She knows nothing about what we're really fighting, nor does she need to. As far as I can tell you'd just be dragging her into the conflict."

Ruby's eyebrows drew together. "She at least should know. I can tell her about it after we break her out of Meridian tower. She can say whether she wants to come with us or not then."

Cinder shook her head. "We don't _need_ her. The six of us are enough. We should just head to Mistral and meet up with your sister like we agreed to-"

"Weiss is my partner." Ruby cut off. "I'm going to see her, end of story."

The two glared into each other's eyes stubbornly, neither wanting to surrender their point.

Cinder looked away first, however.

"Fine," she spat. "We'll go break the little heiress out of her cage, but if we do then you best have a plan."

"I have the beginnings of one." Ruby told her. "it helps that I have a master of breaking and entering, two illusionists, an assassin and you to help me."

Roman chuckled. "You're a flatterer kid. Alright, we'll work out a plan of action on the way over. We should have everything ready by tonight. We can leave then."

"Great. So where are Emerald and Mercury?"

"Inside," Cinder told her, still not looking pleased with her decision but at least willing to deal with it like an adult. "I instructed them to stock dust and other supplies for the trip to Mistral… and Atlas."

"Is it really a good idea to have the two of them around volatile Dust? Together?"

"I told them not to be childish and use it against each other." She said. "They know not to go against what I've told them."

Roman snickered in the background. "I don't know about that."

She glared at him. "What are you on about now Roman?"

"Oh it's nothing," he shrugged. "Just that I don't think you're as threatening to them as you used to be. They probably aren't all too afraid of disobeying you."

"I don't rule through fear," she frowned. "And besides, even if I did, I certainly haven't become less threatening."

The thief raised an eyebrow. "The fact that you cave to a pipsqueak like red begs to differ."

"Hey!"

"Don't look at me like that Red, look at you!"

Ruby did as such, looking down at herself. "What about me?"

Roman sighed. "You really can see it? No, what else could I been thinking." He looked up at her. "Listen Red, your fashion sense it's bad exactly but it makes you look like a… how do I put this into the proper words? A Gothic Lolita."

Ruby gasped. "How _dare_ you!"

"You know it's true."

"I'm not some cutesy little doll!"

"Aren't you though?"

"There is nothing wrong with how I dress."

"You literally wear a frilly skirt while fighting monsters."

"It's a combat skirt!" she cried. "I'm not a damn loli!"

Cinder choked in the background. Roman sent her a withering stare for a moment before turning back to the fuming younger girl. "Of course not," he amended. "You just don't give the off the imagery of a huntress combating creatures of darkness you know?"

She frowned.

"See! That, that's a pout! You can't be threatening when you pout."

"I'm not pouting!" she argued. "I'm frowning, people frown!"

"Sorry Red, you can't escape from it dressed like that"

Ruby groaned. "How did this even turn on me again?"

"Because Roman doesn't think I'm threatening." Cinder grumbled. "You think I'm threatening, don't you?" the younger girl hesitated. "Um…"

"What do you mean _um?"_

"I mean it's just that, _I_ don't think I could ever find you threatening, I mean, we've known each other for ages and all that."

"I'm not threatening." Cinder sagged. "I've lost my touch."

"I mean it would probably help if you carried out half of the threats you aim at people.

Cinder looked up hopefully. "Does that mean I can burn Roman to a crisp?"

"… Maybe a light scalding if he pushes you again." She conceded.

"Traitors!" Roman cried again. "I'm surrounded by traitors."

Neo brought their attention back to her with a snap of her fingers.

"Oh, right," Ruby blinked. "We should go over things one more time instead of wasting it here."

"Fine," the thief groused, throwing away his cigar. "Let's go get the street rats already."

Ruby sent him a look for the term street rats, (not that she thought it would change anything) and went back into the house.

The kitchen table was stacked with crates, Ruby didn't really bother to look much at it, but she could see a few labels with things like 'Dust' or 'food' so that was a good thing.

She was more focused on the sight of Emerald pointing a knife at Mercury, while the silver-haired teen stood with his arms outstretched and using Zwei as a deterrent.

"Put the dog down so I can gut you, you bastard!"

"Well when you put it like that I don't think I will."

Cinder muttered something angrily about losing her edge under her breath.

Ruby sighed. "What happened this time?"

The pair froze, only realising they weren't alone anymore and straightened up.

Emerald hid the knife behind her back, while Mercury, rather shamelessly, set the corgi on top of his head.

Zwei let out a little yip as he panted happily there.

"Nothing!" Emerald answered rather unconvincingly if the blush on her cheeks was anything to go by.

"Yep, totally nothing." Mercury agreed, sitting down at the table and picking up a screwdriver that had been laid out next to an open toolbox. He lifted one leg, and began to unscrew it carefully.

Zwei was still on top of his head.

Ruby looked between them before letting out a breath. There was something clearly going on there but… "I'm not even going to ask. Do you guys have everything ready?"

"Most of it." Emerald told her, calming down. "We could still do to bring along some emergency rations or ammo but apart from that we're good to go. We still have to load it into the bullhead right? Where is it anyway?"

"It's on its way." Roman assured them. "I've got a guy on it."

" _You_ got a trustworthy guy?" Emerald drawled. "I find that hard to believe."

"Whatever kid, you'll see it when you see it."

The girl grunted, deciding that it really wasn't worth her time to argue.

"So, what is the plan exactly?" Mercury asked, taking off his leg and setting it on the table, working on his other one. "We still taking a detour to Atlas or what?"

"We are," Ruby nodded, going on to explain to the duo Weiss' situation. When she mentioned the tower, Mercury smirked. "So basically we're breaking into a maximum security prison that's constantly under watch?"

"We'll be fine." Ruby told him. "Not to sound too full of… well not me, but you guys; pretty much have broken semblances or skills that make you perfect for something like this."

"I guess so." The teen shrugged. "So long as they don't shoot us out of the sky we probably have a good chance."

"Again, leave that to me." Roman said. "I'll get us in and of there no problem."

There was a pointed tap as Neo brought down her parasol with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay fine, Neo's the one flying the thing but I'll be doing ninety percent of the work either way. Neo's basically an add-on."

The woman in question sent a rather unflattering gesture his way in response.

"That does bring up a point however," Cinder spoke up suddenly. "We're talking about skill and abilities we have… hut there is one specifically we haven't heard tell of in months… not immediately needed but still…"

The half-maiden glanced at Ruby, who in turn looked away.

"You haven't been able to use your eyes again have you?"

"I… no." Ruby lamented. "I've tried to think back and… I don't know."

Cinder crossed her arms as Ruby fidgeted uncertainly.

"You've used them multiple times before. Have you still not understood how they work?"

The reaper scowled. "Less times than I can count on one hand. I've never fund anything on silver eyes. No books or passages or reports, not even in the Odyssium, and I Ozpin knew anything never told me. He said something activated them but was so vague on the subject he might as well kept quiet. He was interested in them, that was for sure, but I don't think he knew how to use them."

"Maybe you need to think about what happens during it then," Emerald suggested. "I mean, if he said you need something to turn them on then maybe you just need to think about what you were doing while you used them."

"That would help if I knew."

"Huh?" the green haired girl blinked

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "What is that supposed to men?"

I mean I don't _know_ what I was feeling at the time. I never do. It's… I don't know how to explain it. It's like when it happens I'm not even there. I can never remember what I do clearly, it's all hazy afterwards and… I don't know, what I can remember feels… off I guess.

She bit her lip. "Like it's not _me_ it's happening to, or like, I know what I'm doing and can control myself but at the same time I'm… not?"

Ruby groaned, running a hand through her hair. "I don't even know. It's like some so of weird chance where I don't even think, just _do_ and then blackout at the end. I nearly blacked out last time too."

"That's…" Cinder trailed off, looking down in thought. "I'm not sure what that means actually. It sounds off-putting"

The reaper let out a mirthless chuckle. "Yeah, tell me about it."

Emerald frowned. And… you're sure there's no way you can learn to use it? No way at all?"

Ruby blinked. "I don't know, why are you so hung up on this? I mean, I get being interested in it but… you seem weirdly invested in it."

"I…" the older girl hesitated, looking…. Unsure of herself. "I don't know. It just feels like I should know something… there's… something I'm missing here."

Ruby sighed. "You and me both. If mom was still around then… she might have been able to teach me something about it, but if there're any Silver eyed warriors running around then Ozpin would have tracked them down already. He's had a couple thousand years for it."

There was an awkward silence where the five criminals shared a look. They had all lost people, or just not had anyone to begin with, but there was something morbidly strange as being labelled as something else and, well, being the last of them.

That's what she was right? The last of what was essentially a bloodline, or something like it.

In the end, it was Cinder that broke the silence.

"We'll figure it out eventually Ruby. I've seen you use them once already, you'll be fine. For now let's worry about the present and our mission in Atlas."

"Right," Ruby managed to smile. "You're right. No point me bringing us all down with something like this. We should all prepare for the trip."

"Exactly." The maiden agreed. Which is why I have something to show you."

Ruby blinked for a moment before her eyes lit up. "You finished them?!"

"I did. Come on."

The rest of them followed Cinder as she led them into the room Ruby was well acquainted with, mainly because it was where she constantly visited trying to recover. The mirror on the wall made for a good method of viewing one's self however, which was probably why Cinder was using it.

"Wait here." She ordered, striding into another room off to the side for a moment to get… something.

A minute later she came back with something folded over.

"This is it then?"

Cinder hummed. "Yes. This did say I would be weaving dust into it, so it has the ability to change from one form to the other. I have clothes for the others as well."

Ruby nodded, accepting the clothes as the half-maiden went back and forth, handing clothes to the rest of them one by one.

"Now, disrobe and try it on."

Ruby didn't miss the way Mercury (and Neo) perked up at the word _disrobe_.

Neither did Cinder by the way her eyes narrowed.

"Roman, Mercury, stand outside until the rest of us are done."

Roman rolled his eyes, "Of course, of course. I'm enough of a gentleman to allow lovely ladies to change in peace… and you too of course Cinder."

"Just get out." She groaned.

The two men did as they were told, letting the door click behind them.

Cinder nodded to herself as she went to get her own, but not before shooting the mute a warning glare. "Neo if you so much as touch my ass you'll lose your hand. Don't look at me like that, we know you're not some innocent flower."

The girl stuck out her tongue in response.

"Ugh!"

Ruby for the most part ignored them, already busy hanging up her cape carefully and taking off her over-shirt. At once she winced, her eyes flickering to her arm.

"You okay?" Emerald asked, stepping up beside her as they looked into the mirror. The thief was, well Ruby thought she was always half dressed but there was considerably less now as she took of the traps around her chest.

"It's nothing." Ruby sighed. "Just… yeah, it's fine."

"It doesn't look as bad anymore." Emerald commented lightly.

"You think so?"

"Yeah. It doesn't look like it'll fall off now at least."

She laughed at that morbid but very true fact.

Her arm was…. Well it was clear it was still damaged. The skin was dark red and scratched over, all the way up to her shoulder the pigmentation was that painful looking shade, and there were certain black marks still marring places. Whether that was permanent damage from magic infused flames or something else she didn't know but some things were better.

For starters, Ruby had fingernails again!

It might have been a small thing, but Ruby hadn't noticed how odd it felt until they'd been melted off her in the beginning. It wasn't quite a numbness but it itched and… well the tips of a person's fingers were a lot softer than other places. It meant it was slightly more painful than usual to use them.

But that was in the past now thankfully, they had regrown fully a month back and even more miraculous Ruby could use her hand again!

Not… not for fighting though. She didn't think it would ever get to that point of recovery, but she could hold things now, move her hand, wiggle her fingers and had a general sense of feeling in her palm.

Sometimes she'd get flashed of pain, but Emerald helped her manage those. All she really had to deal with was the stiffness in her joints.

Again, she still couldn't hold Crescent Rose the way she used to, it was basically deadweight in a fight but hey, results were results.

"Do you want me to help you get that on?" Emerald asked suddenly.

"Sure," Ruby nodded.

It didn't take too long; after Ruby shuffled off her skirt and boots she worked with getting the rest of it on.

She kept her corset though, even if it couldn't be seen it still had a purpose.

Not to mention it might have been a little spite on Torchwick's part. There was no way she was going to prove his point.

Emerald helped her fit her arm into the sleeves last and they were finished.

Ruby took a look into the mirror and…

"Huh." She murmured aloud.

The older girl hummed. "Not bad."

She agreed. It was… different from what she expected: in that it looked almost like a military overcoat. Like a specialist uniform even, except slightly more closed over, and instead of white and blue Cinder had kept the red and black – an appreciated decision Ruby thought – with long sleeves cuffed at the end.

It didn't have the suspenders she'd seen Winder wear thank goodness, but there were thigh-high, gunmetal grey boots all the same. It was interesting how Cinder had decided she didn't need a combat skirt though, letting the coat open at the front near the bottom just a little so flow at her sides and dark red leather tassets underneath.

Her shoulders were free other than a strap that ran across her chest and back likely to hold her weapon of something else.

Her left arm again was mostly free apart from the sleeve and a red tactical glove.

Her right on the other hand was more protected, straps encircling the length of her forearms like a brace and a silvery gauntlet at the end that ran up to her elbow. It was smooth and light.

As she inspected it Cinder called out from the other side of the room. "It's not going to help you fight." She said. "It'll help you move it a bit and perhaps protect you from further injury if your aura fails but don't expect much else from it. Remember this isn't your combat attire, this is more casual wear."

"Right, thanks for the heads up." She called back.

All in all, it looked… pretty good, but,

"If this is casual wear what's my combat outfit look like?"

Emerald snorted. "Yeah, Cinder put a lot into this. I saw her going over designs for weeks. I'm telling ya, if we didn't have to deal with the end of the world she'd be a fashion designer." She added. So how do I look?"

Ruby turned around and got a good look.

"Huh, looks good." She meant it;

Maybe it was because they were going to Atlas, but Cinder had taken precautions to make sure Emeralds was properly covered for it, a lot more than she usually was that was for sure.

It looked more like civilian clothing; a white high collar jacket that crossed over at the front and black slacks held up by her belt and half a dozen straps and buckles that hooked on extra ammunition. What _was_ different about it were the gloves. They had some sort of… not crystal, but a strange pattern of them. Was it Dust perhaps?

"Yeah I think so too." Emerald agreed. "Not very practical for combat though, it's got dust weaving right?"

"All of them do." Cinder told her, right as she finished getting dressed herself and was walking over to them.

Ruby tried not to stare. She really did.

Cinder had gone full Mistralian. Red silk clung to her figure all the way up her stomach and breasts, leaving an opening as that wrapped around her shoulders and down her back and again, clinging to her figure. It carried this on until just above her thighs where it opened up in a sort of twin tail design. The edges were trimmed with gold at the sides and two gold-coloured straps made up of interwoven ropes connecting the front half of her dress to the back half of her thigh.

Cinder had kept her heels but gone with think black stockings that stopped at her thighs, and two long sort of gloves that Ruby sure as hel didn't know the name of but appreciated how much they emphasised the parts of skin she left free to see.

Aaaannnd that was when Ruby realised what she was doing.

Her cheeks heated up as she tried to look away but Cinder had already caught her look.

All the same she directed her eyes in the _opposite_ direction of the maiden.

Damn hormones, making everything complicated.

She shouldn't have been _that_ attracted to Cinder. They'd known each other for years, Ruby should have been resistant to things like this. She could understand how _other_ people could possibly be flustered because, honestly Cinder was stunning on a bad day.

Right now she was downright criminally gorgeous. _Yang_ would have been jealous of her perfect figure. Cinder knew how to look good, how the colours brought out her amber eyes or creamy ski-

' _No! Bad Ruby! Stop thinking about how sexy Cinder is!'_

Hormones were evil! Why were they attacking her _now_? She was sixteen not _twelve_!

Ugh!

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby was so busy lamenting how awful it was to be a teenager, that she missed Cinder's triumphant smile.

She'd seen how Ruby had looked at her.

Just as planned.

Now if only Cinder could deal with-

"N-neo!" Ruby yelped as the bloody midget crashed into her, wrapping her arms around Ruby's good one and _purposefully_ pushing her bust against the girl as she showed off her own outfit.

Cinder's thoughts came crashing to a halt.

Cinder hadn't gotten much input on that one herself, if only because the damn mute knew she would have made her look like a nun if she could!

What did it matter to the little psycho anyway? Her semblance was physical illusions!

Damnit and now Ruby was blushing even harder, and not at her! If Cinder's glare was connected to her powers she was positive she would have burned Neo to a crisp by now.

What right did she have to do that?

How did she think she could compete?

Cinder could acknowledge that maybe she was a little bit arrogant, but come on, she was drop-dead gorgeous! All she had to do was walk down the street and men were drooling over her. She was strong, mysterious, alluring and most importantly she was available!

Neo was a catch on her own sure, but how did she think she could compete with her?

"Y-yeah it looks nice." Ruby responded to the mute's unspoken question (because somehow Ruby had learned to understand her) "I-it uh, really suits you."

To that Neo lit up, grinning happily and resting her chin on Ruby's shoulder.

And Cinder didn't miss how she also made sure to oh-so-subtly press the inside of her thigh against the other girl's hips.

And neither did Ruby if the way her face went as red as her cape.

Oh, yeah, that was why; because Neo literally had no shame and was as open as humanly possible to the fact that she wanted to fuck Ruby's brains out.

Did Ruby realise that? Probably not. Teenagers were like that. They liked people, lusted after them, but when it came to comprehending the fact that someone had the same feelings for them, or maybe even deeper ones, only a few actually figured it out.

They were still dealing with all this other confusing stuff after all. It wasn't a surprise if she could see it then.

But everyone else did.

 _Even Taiyang!_

Ruby's father had been fooled. Fooled into thinking that Neo was a nice girl because of how small and gentle she looked.

But Cinder saw, she knew that Neo was crazy!

Well… maybe she might have been too, considering she'd been a part of an operation to bring an entire City down and had been working for the GodQueen of Grimm, but that was more a 'do-what-needs-be-done' kind of crazy.

Neo was the unhealthy kind!

Again… working alongside the Grimm that wanted to destroy all of humanity probably wasn't considered by many professionals as the 'healthy' kind but at least she'd sided with Ruby after everything!

…Except so had Neo, even though they'd known each other less than Cinder had… and she'd done it sooner.

Cinder decided that it was probably best to stop with her line of reasoning before more of her arguments crumbled, besides she had more important things to deal with.

In reference to the mute multi-coloured skank!

Cinder cleared her throat. "Yes Neo, you did an excellent job on designing your… own outfit."

She looked it up and down and had to begrudgingly admit that it _was_ well done for that she no doubt was aiming to catch Ruby's eye with it. Neo had kept her corset, (changing it only from Brown to Black to slim more of her waist) and the way it exposed her hips dangerously. However this time she'd actually _amplified_ it making sure it… extenuated certain areas even more than it had before.

 _Which was cheating!_

It made it worse by the sleeveless black blouse that went up to connect to a choker around her neck and a dark gloves up to just below her elbow.

She had a longer jacket too, one that looked a lot like Romans coat but scalded a smoky black and a heavy hood connected to its collar. Cinder was sure Neo had taken into account that at any time she could change her colour scheme to anything she liked.

Again, cheating.

And Neo knew it if the way she was smirking at Cinder was anything to go by.

This was war.

"Anyway," Cinder pressed on, because as much as she wanted to, Ruby would be upset if she torched the annoying little mute and she had _far_ too much class for that. "I didn't have much input on your clothing Neo, but I did manage to add a few of my own touches, that being the use of dust."

"So what did you do?" Ruby asked.

Cinder stepped over to her and ever so gently trailed a finger across her shoulder.

She hid a smirk at how it made Ruby shiver and the mute frown. "Take a look at the fabric. It looks different upon closer inspection doesn't it?"

"Um…" the younger girl blinked, inspection it closer "yeah, actually, it does. It kind of looks like… glass maybe? Or something else."

"Concentrated dust." Cinder supplied. "It's weaved all throughout your clothes, but focused more specifically in your feet, knees, elbows, forearms and hands. Do you remember the apparel I head during the dance at Beacon?"

"The one that used fire Dust? Yeah."

"Well I still have it. This outfit I'm wearing now changes into a... modified version of that. It's basically the same, but more practical in that it covers all exposed skin and discards the mask for a hood instead."

"So why are you bringing that up exactly?"

"Because of how the Dust worked in it." She answered. "I used it not only in an attempt to mask my maiden abilities, but also for extra utility. I have done the same for you."

Ruby shifted uncomfortably. "So… you gave me… fire?"

She shook her head. "I realised how… insensitive that would be. Now, I ventured for something more useful for you alone; gravity Dust."

Ruby looked up. "Gravity? How would that work?"

"Well the simple trick is that it can make you lighter, but more so it can make things you _hold_ lighter. You've been working on Crescent Rose, but I know you weren't quite able to get it down to the proper weight you need." She smiled proudly. "So instead I work on a way around that by lessening the gravity that your weapon inflicts on you, it's adjustable of course depending on how much aura you pump into it so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Wow," Ruby breathed. "That's actually amazing. Thank you Cinder!"

Neo was _glaring_ at her now.

It just made Cinder smile wider. "Of course. There are some other useful things too. For instance because it focuses on your feet and joints it should make it easier to move faster and jump higher, especially with your semblance added to the mix. You still have all the force but less of the gravity weighing you down… considering how you fight now however, that can also be reversed to make your limbs heavier if you wish."

"The rest of you have similar utilities," Cinder waved to Emerald and Neo as well as gesturing to the two still likely waiting outside the doors. "Simple things like wind, energy or ice to make you more adaptable to situations."

Emerald whistled. "If that's the case and it's so useful you wonder why everyone doesn't have Dust infused clothes."

"Because of the expenses," Cinder said with a roll of her eyes. "Dust is far too rare to spend on things like clothing when it must be used for power and weaponry, especially now. I was only able to get my hands on the amount needed for us because Roman stole it-"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that for deniability's sake in court." Ruby murmured before Cinder continued on.

"No to mention that Dust weaving takes _skill_ and years of practice."

"Yeah I get that," the youngest of them nodded. "Even when you were travelling with Qrow and I you started learning it didn't you?"

"Indeed. The fact is there aren't really many people who still study the craft, mainly because it really isn't needed; with things like semblances and aura the extra firepower and protection usually isn't considered. We know better though. Even if the boost is small or used in things other than direct combat we must take whatever advantages we can get."

"I guess that makes sense." Emerald hummed. "So should we call the guys back in? So how they look?"

"Probably." Cinder grumbled before calling out. "I know you've been listening in Mercury, hurry up and get in here with Roman."

The door clicked open a moment later as the two of them entered. They'd already changed into what they'd been given outside and this time it was Ruby who whistled.

Mercury had just exchanged. His old jacket for a thicker on with a hood on it, so not much there. The real chance came lower down, and it was easy to see where the dust became for focused and it shines lightly with a hint of green. Wind Dust perhaps? Most it just did stuff to conceal his robotic legs.

Roman… well.

"What are you doing?" Cinder frowned. "Why aren't you changed."

The thief shrugged. "I dunno, don't take this personal Cindy but I think I prefer my own… fashion sense over yours."

The maiden twitched. "It's focused on utility and practicality. What on Remnant does your hat have to offer?"

"Uh, presentation? People know who I am as soon as they see this getup."

"Yes, they recognise the notorious criminal… something we want to _avoid_ if you recall."

He rolled his eyes. "After we break out the ice Queen descriptions going to go out the window. I'd rather they saw my face and panicked than thinking we're just a few rouges that might have gotten too close to something they shouldn't have."

Cinder clearly didn't agree if her growl was anything to go by. "You are unbelievable."

"I'll take that as a complement pyro."

"I hate you. I hate you so much."

Roman made to say something possibly insulting when the sound of the front door echoed into the room.

"Ruby?" Taiyang called out. "Are you there? There's uh, a bullhead on our lawn right now... please tell me Roman didn't steal it. I don't want the police knocking on my door _again_ this month."

"Well," Roman grinned. "That sounds like our ride, oi street rat, you and your boyfriend ought to start loading things up now. Go on get to it."

They flipped him off in response, but _did_ do as they were told a moment later a Roman led Ruby out of the house to get a good look at his prize, and when she saw it…

"How did you even managed to get an armoured bullhead?"

"Are you asking because you want to know or because you feel like you have to?"

"Will I like the answer?"

The thief shrugged. "Let's just say I have friends who know how to get thinks and leave it at that, okay Red?"

"You're a bad influence, you know that right? I'm an impressionable sixteen-year-old and you're corrupting me."

"I try." He said with a tip of his hate, before his eyes flickered over her head and he hummed. "Now… there's probably someone you should talk to… I'll make sure the rest of us are ready to leave, it shouldn't take long."

He gave her one last nod before turning away and shouting some orders to the others.

That left Ruby to turn, looking around to meet her dad's eyes.

"…Hey," she coughed, which sounded stupid, she realised as soon as she said it.

All the same, Taiyang smiled. "Hey." A pause. "So you're off again."

She hesitated. "I mean, hey, at least this time you know I'm leaving… i-I'm sorry that sounded…"

"It's fine." Her dad let out a breath. "I knew you would be leaving eventually but… I was hoping the wait would be indefinite."

Ruby's eyes drifted shut. "Yeah…"

"It's going to be dangerous out there… you were already being hunted by those bastards but now-"

He cut himself off to hid how his voice quavered.

"Hey," she tried, stepping closer to him. "I'll be fine. I'll find Yang and then she can watch my back. And besides, I've got these guys looking out for me."

Taiyang's eyes drifted over to the criminals as they loaded up, yelling curses at one another as they did so. It got a laugh out of the man, if only a weak one. "I can see that. I… wouldn't call them the best of influences but they're strong enough to keep you safe."

"They are." She agreed. "And… if uncle Qrow comes back here you can let him know that we've gone, right?"

"Right." He nodded. "I will."

The silence drifted between them slowly, and Ruby didn't know what to do.

Her dad did though, thankfully and dragged her into a crushing hug, pressing his face into her hair. "Be safe okay?"

"I-" Ruby choked, ignoring the welling of feelings that rose up. "I will. I promise."

His shoulders sagged in relief. It wasn't much, but it was the most she could promise him. This wasn't the first time he'd said goodbye to a Rose going off on a mission.

It was her job to make sure it wasn't the last.

"You ready?" Emerald asked as she made her way over to the ship, it's engines whiling to life and pushing the grass beneath her feet back.

Ruby smiled, forcing back those feelings again, ignoring the stinging sensation in her eyes.

"Of course, let's get going team CRRMSN."

It hurt, because she knew that sensation wasn't tears.

Emerald grasped her hand and pulled her up and the younger girl let herself fall into her seat. Up in the pilot seats, Neo and Roman looked back. "Strap in boys and girls, we're off."

There was a lurch as the bullhead rose above the trees and into the sky. Ruby was certain her dad was still watching her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, as Cinder looking down at her with concern she only ever showed for her.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course," She smiled, because she had to, because right now they had a job to do. "Don't worry about me Cinder."

They all had something to do. For Ruby, it was to keep looking ahead.

She couldn't stop.

Not now.

* * *

...

 **So yeah, that's where I'll leave it for now. Like I said I've got a few things I need to take care of, but I am curious about something.**

 **It's partly because I'm lazy and have no skill but also because I'd like to give you all a visual representation but do any of you know where I can find a good artist to do RWBY art commissions for? Just curious.**


	49. On our way: Part 2

**We're almost coming up to christmas, hooray! Still a bit early but I like this time of year jsut becasue usally everyone else around me is excited. I'd like it better if it snowed though, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for that.**

 **I thought it was funny how many people were amused by Cinder and Neo's little byplays and Ruby's reactions. A hormones, the bane of every teenager.**

 **Anyway, on to the chapter.**

* * *

...

People all over thought they knew what Atlas was like.

Many would never visit. The cold climate and constant tension between its people were enough of a deterrent for most, but the general consensus was that the continent was a frozen wasteland.

Mostly, this was false. Or, not false, but certainly it didn't account for what humanity had done to warp it to survive in such climates.

There were still plenty of places just like that however, wide, near-unending swaths of Iceland.

Most of the time, nothing lived in such places, not people nor Grimm, but sometimes, outposts were established along the white plains, or the frozen mountains as supply lines or lookouts, just in case the situation ever changed.

It was also the perfect place for a single lone tower to act as a prison. In the middle of what was essentially nowhere, even if someone was to escape, they likely would freeze to death before they made it to civilisation.

It was, excluding the security itself, what made Meridian tower so inescapable.

Right now, a blizzard had taken hold of the land, making the dark tower almost vanish in the snow.

A lone ship however, had caught sight of it, and landed not too far away in one of the rising mounts of ice surrounding it. Six figures stepped out of the ship, shrouded in cloaks that shielded their forms from the brunt of the snow.

One of the shorter figures stepped forward their gaze piercing through even the freezing storm, towards the tower.

"We're here," she said. "Let's get this done."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Weiss yawned.

She wasn't sure why. Maybe she was bored out of her mind? Yes, that was probably it.

It certainly wasn't because she was tired. In fact, sometimes she wished she could feel tired but, well, being stuck in a tower meant she really didn't get much… exercise. A huntress-in-training with so much pent-up energy forced to laze around didn't do much for her sleeping patterns.

Her slumbers were usually uncomfortable, restless even, but she never quite felt tired. Sluggish maybe, but never tired.

That wasn't the only thing that worried her. Weiss had… not been keeping active at all really. She hadn't lost her figure by any means, but she wasn't entirely sure she was as fit as she had been eight months ago. Or was it nine? She was beginning to lose count of them recently, the day's just sort of blurred together.

She yawned again. Ugh, what was a girl supposed to do with nothing but chess to entertain her?

Weiss wasn't particularly found of television, most of the time there was never anything of interest on it, even that would be better than this monotony!

She didn't even have that. Being so far out mean that the local CCT signal was directed more at communications that entertainment.

Still though, couldn't they try and install some sort of stimuli for their _only_ prisoner?

She lamented the fact that no, they probably didn't care about whether or not she was bored or not when someone knocked her bedroom door.

Penny had come early today then. Joy.

Weiss sighed, making sure she was dressed presentably since once or twice she'd forgotten to get changed from her gown into a proper dress before calling out.

"Come in."

The door hissed open like it always did, and a figure stood at the other side like they always did.

"Hi!"

Their voice was most certainly not Penny's.

Weiss' head craned very, _very_ slowly as she blinked.

Even. Slower.

Had… she finally gone off the deep end?

She must have, clearly.

It was the only explanation she could think of as to why she was staring at _Ruby_ , who was smiling back at her like the situation was completely normal.

Weiss stared, completely rattled. How was she even supposed to comprehend this? There was no way, absolutely _no_ way Ruby had travelled to Atlas, found out where she was and had been let into one of the most secure places in the world.

The apparition of Ruby blinked, looking confused by her lack of response. The mirage in her head stepped forward into the room, walking up to her and giving her a concerned look.

"Weiss? ...Are you okay?"

There was no way. Absolutely no way.

She... she could prove that couldn't she? She'd just wave away this haze like it was nothing.

So, she raised her hand shakily to Ruby's face.

The other girl looked confused for a moment, but when she saw Weiss' intention, she stilled, letting it happen.

And Weiss' fingers brushed against her cheek.

The damn broke.

The Heiress choked. "Oh my god."

"Hi." Ruby smiled again softly. "I'm here."

And Weiss crashed into her a second later.

The younger girl nearly stumbled, but managed to right herself as he snow-haired girl wrapped her arms around her and buried her face into her shoulder.

"You're here!" Weiss gasped, no, sobbed was more like it. She was crying. "You're real! You're really here!"

"You bet I am. Don't you remember what you said to me? You told me to come find you after I was finished with Ozpin, right?"

Ruby wasn't sure if the feeble laugh Weiss gave was a happy one or not, but all the same, it was all she needed to say for Ruby to pull her closer.

"Listen to me Weiss. I'm here now. It's going to be okay."

"I-" she didn't finish, gasping for breath between her tears. It was fine, Ruby knew she had time, so she let Weiss Cry in her arms it would hurt now, but she would feel better later. She held her as long as she could, but eventually, loathingly, Ruby couldn't ignore the way her arm flared in pain.

She tried to, she really did try to force herself past the feeling, but her hand was beginning to spasm and burn the longer she held Weiss.

"Weiss can you-"

It must have been something in her voice, because Weiss flinched back suddenly. Ruby grimaced, not just as her own discomfort, but how the heiress's eyes were rimmed red.

She really wished she'd fought past the pain and let her hold on just a little bit longer.

"D-did I do something wrong?" Weiss asked fearfully. "I- I so sorry."

"What? No, It's-" Ruby shook her head, lifting up her right arm. It was covered in its metal bracings, looking nearly like a prosthetic arm. "It's this."

Weiss gasped. She must have thought it was exactly that. "D-did you lose your arm?!"

"No, nothing like that," Ruby assured her. "I… well I'll explain it later. Right now we've got something else to focus on. Do you have anything to carry things? Can you pack some clothes quickly?"

"W-what?"

"Clothes. For the blizzard."

Weiss stared. "You're… not just here to visit me?"

"Visit?" Ruby echoed in confusion. "Weiss I'm busting you out of here."

The heiress gaped at her like she was insane. "You can't be serious."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ruby this-this is one of most impenetrable maximum security prison in the world. There's no way the two of us can just walk out of here!"

"I know," Ruby rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Don't worry though, I've got this all planned out."

No way. This was crazy. This whole idea was crazy. This whole _situation_ was crazy! This must have been a dream. A nightmare. It had to be. There was no way Ruby could possibly think she could break her out.

Of course, that would have to be it. It made sense if she thought of it like that. Why on Remnant would Ruby wear a military outfit like that anyway? She had to be thinking up something ridiculous.

The way Ruby's good hand took her in her won begged to differ.

This was real.

"Weiss trust me. I can get you out of here as long as you trust me. You do right?"

"I-" she coughed. What kind of question was that? "Of course I do."

"Then trust me with this." Ruby pleaded. Weiss looked away. "You keep repeating the word trust." She mumbled. "I feel like you're guilt tripping me."

"Heh, sorry." The younger girl said. "I'd be better with this if we weren't on a timer. Look…; Weiss, I don't know why you're in here, but I can tell you're scared."

Weiss swallowed. "I-I-" she tried to deny it, but the words died on her lips. She was scared, the writhing in her chest, in her head, under her skin, was a constant reminder of that. She was dangerous. She was locked in here for a reason, because she was dangerous. Wanted out of here. Wanted to be free was selfish if she put others in danger.

She looked up into Ruby's eyes, taking in her face and ingraining it onto her mind. Ruby didn't look all too different. She was taller, a little more mature looking, but it was still Ruby.

Ruby wanted her to go with her.

Her _leader_ wanted her to go with her.

It made her want to be selfish.

"Okay." She breathed at last. "Let's go."

"You don't want to take anything with you?"

"No," she shook her head. "There's nothing here for me."

"What about Myrtenaster?"

"It's not here. I… it was taken from me when I was put in here. It's… probably been melted down by now."

And didn't that hurt to say.

A long time ago, or what felt like it, Ruby had called their weapons extensions of themselves. She'd scoffed at that then, thinking it silly, childish even. She'd once thought that perhaps it was proof that while Ruby could act mature when she tried, she was still a child at heart.

She understood it now.

"Alright then." Ruby nodded. "Let's go."

Ruby led her out quickly, and if she had forgotten that she still held Weiss' hand in her own, the heiress didn't rush to remind her. Instead, Weiss focused her that grasp, taking comfort in how it made her feel… safe.

White walls and white halls, Ruby strode down them without pause, even as Weiss' eyes flickered back and forth nervously. They were still on 'Weiss' floor' so there was no one here to see them, but…

"Ruby," she whispered. "Slow down. The cameras will see us!"

"Don't worry about them." Ruby said. "I've got… someone dealing with them for now. They'll notice you're not in your room before they see us leaving, so we should cover as much ground as we can before they do."

"Someone? Are Blake and Yang here?"

"I- no. Listen there's a lot to explain, once we got out of here I'll give you the rundown okay?"

Weiss made to speak when Ruby's scroll vibrated suddenly. The girl didn't stop as her metallic hand twitched slightly before she used it to lift the scroll to her ear. Was it just Weiss or was it… stiff?

"Yeah?" Ruby paused, listening to the voice on the other side for a moment. "Alright, be ready just in case." The call ended right after.

Weiss was about to ask how Ruby had been talking to when they came to a flight of stairs.

Meridian tower was built in a way that was directly inefficient: the stairs only travelled down five levels, then stopped, and the stairs continued at the other side of the tower for another five. It was a back and forth, deliberately done so that anyone attempting to leave would be slowed down.

That was a small concern for Weiss however, she was more focused on the fact that the doors were actually opening for them. Whoever Ruby had been talking to had access to the doors.

It was an advantage thankfully that Ruby took full use of. They made it down five levels, and another five, and another five, as many as they could as fast as they could. Weiss was fairly sure they were still at least a sixty floors up when there was a sudden whine.

They froze as tan alarm cried out and the lights shone red.

"Whelp, that's our cue to get on with this." Ruby quipped, not looking even slightly worried about that fact that their escape had been found out. Why wasn't she panicking!? Weiss knew she was!

They quickened their pace, further down the now tinted-red hallways and Weiss nearly tripped as they sped up. She was out of practice when it came to running in heels now!

And then Ruby came to a complete stop so suddenly Weiss crashed into her back.

"Damn," Ruby said, more surprised than upset as half a dozen men aim their rifles at them. "That as faster than I thought they'd be."

"Stay where you are!" one of the soldiers ordered. "Get on the ground with your hands behind your head. If you do not comply we will use deadly force."

Weiss swallowed nervously. She believed them. They were a good ten meters away, just far enough that there was no way Ruby would reach them before they reacted and filled her full of bullet holes. They would too. They looked nervous, and were probably well aware of the danger she was. "Ruby…"

"Don't worry about it Weiss." Ruby smiled at her. "I'm a huntress remember? A few guards aren't enough to stop me. Besides, I said I had a plan didn't I?"

That didn't seem to impress the men in front of them. "This is your last warning. Get on the ground and put your hands where we can see them. We have authorisation to shoo- gah!"

The man yelled out in shock as something shimmered above him. Weiss flinched back in surprise as a girl suddenly appeared out of thin air and slammed three of the soldiers against the walls.

The remaining three cried out as they turned to fire at her but the stranger was far too fast. Her leg lashed out and caught one of them in the jaw, dislocating it and knocking him out so hard he fell like a put cut from its strings.

She was moving before the body hit the ground, snaking under the second one's arms and wrapping a hand around his throat. He managed to chock at a gasp and nothing else as he was thrown into the last one, hitting him hard and sending them both to the ground.

The last soldier groaned, trying to get up when the attacker smashed her heel into his temple, and he dropped.

There was a brief moment of silence as Weiss stared and the girl turned to them with a savage grin.

She… her face was familiar.

"Good job Neo." Ruby nodded. "A little brutal but as long as they get up in the morning we're good."

Neo. Neopolitan. The one who worked with Roman Torchwick.

"Ruby!" she hissed. "What is she doing here?!"

"Helping us out." she replied, as if it was the most obvious trying in the world. That stumped the heiress for a moment, and in that time Ruby turned back to the criminal as she strode up with that same smile on her face that made Weiss shiver. "How's it looking down there?"

The multi-coloured girl's face went through a series of expressions that left Weiss confused, and for a good ten seconds there was no talking before Ruby nodded again.

"Good, lead the way then."

"You can understand her?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, took a lot of time but it's one of those things you pick up."  
Weiss really doubted it was, but it felt like the least insane thing that was currently happening so she let it drop.

The shorter girl turned, running down the halls and stepping over the unconscious men as they followed behind.

"W-where are we even going?"

"A few more floors down." Her leader explained. "There's uh, an alternate exit being set up right now."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?"

She got her answer a few moments later as they made their way down the halls. There were dozens of soldiers splayed out on the ground. This Neo girl had taken care of them before she'd met up with them. They turned a corner, and Weiss saw another person she recognised from Vale. Someone she knew was an enemy

Mercury Black had one leg extended upwards, holding a man by his throat. He saw them and waved. "Hey Red, you got her then?"

 _What?_

"Obviously." Ruby hummed, eyes trailing to the man at Mercury's mercy. "What are you doing by the way?"

"Looking for some answers." He explained, shooting a mocking looking the solider way as he struggled to breathe. "This lovely guy was radioing for some help. Looks like they've got this place stocked with paladins as well as the army of robots soldiers."

"Good to know… you going to deal with him then?"

Weiss' eyes widened. Deal with him? Before her eyes Mercury dropped the man to the ground and raised his leg higher. Was he going to-

"Wait!

That was all she got out before Mercury slammed his foot down and the man crashed to the floor. Weiss' breath caught in her throat for a moment in shock as she stared at the body.

He… he was dea-

A groan escaped the man, weak, and pained, but a sign that he was alive.

Ruby had noticed her shock though.

"Weiss calm down. We're not going to kill any of them if we can help it okay? Just relax."

"I-I- right. Of- of course. What was I thinking?"

Ruby didn't look total convinced at her words, but forgoed pressing it in exchange of looking to Mercury.

"Is it ready?"

"Yep, we probably need to take a few steps back though."

"Right, Weiss come on."

"What are we doing now?"

"Skipping a few floors. Merc, where's the other the landing pad again?"

"About thirty floors down."

"Right, let's go then. Neo, you want to do the honours?"

The mute clapped her hands excitedly as the silver-haired teen tossed her a small cylindrical device with a red button on top.

Wait a minute.

Weiss' eyes flickered to the far wall they'd just moved away from.

Was that _C4?!_

Mercury grinned. "Fire in the hole!"

There was a crack in the air as the wall was literally _torn_ out, blasted back in a shockwave of fire and shrapnel. It shook Weiss' bones even as far away as she stood and made her teeth click together. Ruby moved to shield her eyes, throwing up her cloak as the heat washed over them. It wasn't threatening them, but either way Weiss took comfort in Ruby's defence.

A moment later that heat was replaced by a biting cold as the blizzard swept through the hole left in the wall. They didn't waste any time. "Let's go!" Ruby orders, and the Schnee girl let out a yelp as Ruby's arms swept her off her feet and carried her bridal style down the hallway.

The younger girl winced painfully as her right arm twitched under the weight of Weiss' legs but there was a sudden glow of purple light a second later that lifted the heiress slightly higher.

"R-ruby what are you doing?"

"Don't worry about it, just hold on to me okay?"

Ruby may not have answered her, but there was no question as to what she had planned when the other two _jumped_ out of the tower.

Oh please no.

" _Rrrruby!_ " Weiss screamed as her leader leapt out into the freezing blizzard and plummeted to the ground. Her voice was stolen by the wind and Weiss latched her arms around Ruby's neck instinctually as she looked down.

They dropped farther and farther, faster and faster and still Weiss couldn't see; the snow was everywhere, a wall of white blocking out her view of below. She'd lost sight of the other two as well, and all she could hear was the wind as it screamed in her ears and her hair whipped up.

They kept falling, so fast tears were beginning to form in her eyes and suddenly she could see a shadow, below them. Growing and growing at incredible speed.

The landing pad!

They were going to hit it. It was coming far too fast. They were going to splatter like instincts against it!

And then suddenly there was a flurry of rose petals. Weiss felt her heart beat wildly as the world began to spin around her. Her stomach dropped suddenly as something shunted underneath her. Ruby's feet hit the ground and she kept running.

Ruby grinned at her. "What I tell you Weiss? Relax, I always have a landing strategy."

"No wasting time!" Mercury shouted ahead of them. "We need to get going before they figure out we landed here."

"Can't we bring in the ship here?"

"Cinder wasn't able to disable the guns. They're connected to something else."

Ruby swore. "Alright, we go with plan B then."

Weiss cried out as Ruby dashed to the side, still with her in her arms and out of the way of a hail of bullets.

A brigade of Atlesian Knights had found them.

"Merc, Neo, deal with these guys!"

"On it!"

Ruby sprinted forward, ducking under more bullet fire as the two criminals engaged the machines, cleaving through them as fighters on their level were capable of.

Weiss scrunched her eyes shut as Ruby ducked and weaved through the metal bodies. Ruby's hands were full with her, she couldn't use her weapon like this

One of the knights recognise their approach, and their hands shifted into wicked looking blades as it poised to slice at them.

Ruby didn't even slow down, spinning on her heel and smashing the back of her foot into its head and caving it in with a crunch.

Since when could Ruby do that?

She must Weis must have spoken aloud because Ruby laughed, ducking under another robot as she did. "Well you know, you get a lot of time to practice in eight months."

Once again there was a flurry of rose petals and Ruby gained a sudden burst of speed, clearing the last of the robotic guards for now and speeding into the tower again, down the halls. They rounded a corner at the same time as a pair of guards that cried out in shock at the sight of them.

Ruby was already moving, jumping upwards and kicking off the wall to sail above them. They turned to face them and aimed at their backs but because of that missed the two Neo and Mercury as they crashed into their backs.

"There are a lot of Knights behind us," the teen told them. "We should probably not stop."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Ruby shot back, already moving ahead. "How many floors have we got left?"

"Don't know, the blueprints we got say twenty or something. But we're gonna have a lot more people to deal with the further we go down."  
"Joy."

He was proven right when they got down another five floors and saw two more guards in front of them. Weiss readied herself for bullets to fly at them again when she realised they weren't firing. The guards did nothing as they ran up to them and Weiss gasped suddenly when _another_ person ran up in front of them, right in front of their faces and they did nothing to shield themselves as she brought the back of her blades up and slammed them into their faces.

It was like they didn't even see her!

"How is the girl with a speed semblance this slow?" Emerald scowled as she turned to them.

"I've kind of been busy dodging bullets Em." Ruby shouted back "Have you thinned them out?"

"This hall's clear, yeah." The green haired girl nodded as she fell into the same pace as them "I've dealt with as many as I could but there is some serious security here. They're starting to panic too."

"Then let's get out of here before they decide to bring down the building on us yeah?"

"Right." Emerald nodded, bringing a scroll up to her ear. "Cinder we're on our way. Right we'll- Cinder!"

Ruby's head snapped to her. "What is it?"

The dark skinned girl swore. "Cinder's a few floors down. The front entrance is in lockdown. She's in the vehicle bay but it sounds like she's busy dealing with them."

"She'll be fine, she can deal with a few grunts until we get there."

"You're… you're right."

Weiss' eyes flickered between them. Emerald was here too. These people were all criminals and Ruby was… why was Ruby with them? What was going on? More and more it felt like Weiss was just being dragged along for the ride with no clue where she would stop.

Another floor, and another, and with each Weiss was carried through the other's cleaved through knights and soldiers alike with brutal efficiency. Weiss knew there were hundreds of knights and men alike, but with the halls only allowing so many people to move freely at once they became the downfall of the much superior force. There should have been more though.

Weiss couldn't help the thought that niggled at the back of her mind. There should have been turrets all over the place to mow down anyone who tried to escape. Where were they? The question was replaced by the sound of a thunderous explosion below them that rocked the walls.

"Well," Ruby said. "Look's like Cinder's busy." They made it there a minute later and Weiss stared in shock.

The vehicle bay was something every good military outpost had, since Atlas' military superiority came from their technology. It was where they kept their tanks, their cars, their bikes, their Paladins.

The paladins, that were now nothing more than hunks of melted metals splayed out all across the bay.

A lone woman in a red dress stood in the centre of them as flames flittered around her.

Those… those Paladins were the top of the line, the armoured and upgraded version of what team RWBY had taken on last year. They were meant to rival huntsmen! And here this woman stood in a burning wreck of nearly thirty of them with nothing more than a slightly uneven breath.

Who was she?

Ruby answered her question. "Cinder!" she called out. "Good to see you're alright."

The woman turned to them and all at once Weiss felt inadequacy run down to her core.

This woman was… she was...

Captivating.

There was something thick and powerful practically radiating off her that made Weiss' sense spin.

And she was looking at Ruby in a way Weiss wasn't comfortable with.

"Of course I am. I came down as soon as I finished up in the surveillance room. I had to deal with the rabble while I was here." She glanced at one of the wrecks, the steel was nothing more than molten slag now "Don't worry, they were smart enough to only send remotely-controlled one's against me."

"Good. How are we on time?"

"Doing well. All we have to deal with now is the door." Cinder mused. "It might take some time though, it's heavily armoured."

"How long would it take you to melt through it?"

"Without melting all of you in the process? Five minutes."

Ruby grimaced. "This place will be swarming by then."

"Well she should get started anyway." Emerald voiced. "We can set up a defence if we have to."

Ruby didn't look happy with that, but with nothing else they could do she nodded and they hurried to the exit as fast as they could.

It was a massive, armoured door as advertises, looking more like it was supposed to defend against an onslaught of Grimm than to keep some military transport safe.

The fact that it was over twenty feet high added to the intimidation Weiss felt. How were they going to get through that?

"Cinder, you ready?"

"Of course." The woman in red nodded, raising a hand as her eye flashed with an actual _flame_.

"Stop."

Weiss stiffened at the voice, as Ruby turned around and her eyes widened.

"Penny?!"

Emerald blinked. "The Atlas girl from the festival?"

Indeed, right in front of them Penny stood alone, green eyes focusing on Ruby and Weiss in a way she didn't recognise.

"Step aside."

Penny ordered.

"Don't!" Weiss hissed, hand gripping at Ruby's caller fearfully. "It- Penny was a machine. This is a copy of her!"

"I know Weiss." Ruby answered softly. Her eyes were calm, gazing at the android with… comprehension.

She knew. _She knew?!_

No. No she thought she did but she didn't.

"She was programmed to keep me here." Weiss rushed out. "She was ordered to- to kill me if I acted out."

Ruby's eyes flickered to her, and then back to Penny.

Weiss gasped as the air turned fridged.

No. Not fridged. That was the wrong word for it. This felt more that that, more physical, like...

Like a thousand tiny blades running across her skin, not hard enough to cut or even hurt, but enough that she was aware of them. Weis looked up, and although the girl carrying her wasn't looking at her specifically, she could still see into those silver orbs.

That looked so sharp and dangerous Weiss thought they might draw blood.

Was this... Ruby?

"Is that true?"

"It is." Penny nodded remorsefully. "Or, it was."

 _What?_

There was shouting further behind Penny, and the android peered back as where it was coming from. "It looks like there are more men coming. It would probably be best for everyone if you _didn't_ encounter them."

"There's kind of a door in the way of that Penny." Ruby grunted, but despite her words, the reaper had relaxed her stance from ready-to-commit-acts-of-violence to willing-to-listen-but-still-cautious.

The metal girl perked up and saluted, with a familiar smile, something that a copy shouldn't have worn, something Weiss knew that this version of Penny hadn't expressed before. "Leave it to me."

Weiss flinched into Ruby as Penny marched past towards the door and the band of criminals watched her raise a hand to the construction. There was a high whine and a flash of green light for a moment, before in the door gave off a hiss of steam, shifted and let out the sound of an alarm as it groaned.

It was opening, and Weiss could see the frozen wasteland stretch out before them

The shouting was louder now, and panicked, Cinder moved and threw up a hand, summoning a wall of flames between them and the Atlas soldiers as they swarmed into the vehicle bay.

"I doubt running on foot will be an option." Cinder hummed as the men on the other side cried out in shock from the heat. "Does anyone have any other ideas?"

"Oh!" Penny beamed. "We could take on of the LTATV's."

Emerald blinked. "The what?"

"One of the light all-terrain vehicles." She clarified. "I have the access codes for all transport in the bay."

"Good idea." Ruby nodded, already moving as Penny made some sort of hand motion and a jeep drove itself over to them. At this point the men on the other side of the flame wall had decided to try and fire through it. It was only because of the intensity of the fire that the dust was burning up before it could pierce through.

"So who's driving?"

"I ca-" Penny made to offer, before the multi-coloured blur that was neo hopped into the driver's side and clasped the wheel.

Weiss stared. Could she even reach the pedals?

"Alright then, in we go!" Ruby declared. "In, in, in hurry up!"

Weiss suppressed a squeak as Ruby clambered into the car with the Schnee still in her arms before setting her down on one of the seats.

"Seatbelt." Ruby ordered.

"W-wha-" Weiss spluttered. "We're getting shot at and you tell me to put on a seatbelt?"

"Do you want to break your neck if we crash?" The younger girl asked in such a reasonable tone that it didn't even make sense to argue.

Weiss put on her seatbelt.

The rest of the clambered in; Cinder beside Ruby, Penny in the seat next to Neo, and Emerald and Mercury in the back.

"There was a crash behind them as Weiss peered out the back window.

"Is that a spider droid?" Cinder asked.

"Neo floor it!"

The mute gave a thumbs up and did just that, facing Weiss into the back of her seat as they took off, their wheels bouncing up and down on the snow.

Ruby leaned forward between the front seats and looked out of the windscreen up into the sky. "Where is he?"

"He had to find a landing spot." Cinder answered as they rocked up and down on the ice. "There was a danger they might just shoot him out of the sky otherwise."

Most likely," Penny agreed. "I was able to disable the internal turret defences when the alarms went off but I have no control over the anti-air cannon."

Weiss' eyes widened. "You're the one who turned them off?"

"Correct!" Penny smiled. No a robotic one, not that plastic, fake, manufactured smile she was used to. This one… it looked like a smile the old Penny would give but…

"Why?" Weiss whispered. "Why did you help? You…. You have orders to keep me in that tower."

"… Because you're my friend Weiss." The girl said, looking at her with eyes that didn't repulse her. They were eyes she recognised, somehow. "Because it wasn't right or fair for you to be kept here."

"Because I have a soul."

Weiss didn't understand. Not really. She didn't understand how Penny was suddenly… back. She didn't understand how Ruby was here, or why she was with these criminals. She didn't understand what was going on.

She didn't understand a lot of things really.

But if there was one thing she understood, it was that now, she'd been saved. She'd been rescued by her friends. They'd come for her and gotten her freedom back.

And for now, that was all that mattered.

They were still saying things to each other, but Weiss couldn't hear it anymore. Things were getting… fuzzy. She felt tired, drained even, and she felt comfortable, safe even, leaving her head against Ruby as she held her tight. Ahead she could just make out the silhouette of a bullhead far off in the distance against the snowy backdrop.

It was fine then, she could rest.

Weiss closed her eyes.

And let herself drift off to sleep.

* * *

…

…

* * *

"You want to what?" Yang parroted, blinking at Sienna in confusion as she took a bite out of her sandwich. It was a good sandwich too; tasty. She'd made it herself. She probably could have made something more for her breakfast but she didn't really want to add her own mouth to the hungry ones that they had to feed, so it would do.

What was she thinking of again?

Oh yeah.

"We want to build up a militia." Sienna repeated, "An official one." Yang glanced around the table. Sun, Ilia and Neptune were here, as was… Blake… but also Ghira and Kali, and surprisingly they looked to be in agreement with the most recent Ex-White Fang leader.

Okay, that was odd.

"Can I ask why?"

"We… have concern about what you told us is happening in Haven." Ghira spoke slowly. "More than that, we see what the White Fang is doing as dangerous not just as what they might do to threaten people, but the image they give o Faunus as a whole. We need to do something to change that."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "And your idea is to build an army?"

"To take back Haven, yes."

Oh.

"Oh." She repeated aloud. "That… okay, wow."

"What is it?" Kali asked. "Is… that the wrong thing to do?"

"You're asking me?"

"You, the three of you, know the most about what's going on outside of menagerie out of anyone at this table, and you seem to be competent at forming at least the basics of strategy. We thought it would be best to run it by you."

"O…kay then." Yang managed to get out. "That makes at least a semblance of sense I guess."

Ghira looked sombre. "You have issues, by the sounds of it."

"I don't know I just, what do you have planned anyway? After you 'build your militia' I mean."

"We don't have it all worked out." Kali admitted. "We understand that it might be difficult but there has to be something we can do."

Despite herself, Yang scoffed. "Might Be? That's an understatement."

"You think so?"

The blonde sighed. Of course these three wouldn't understand. They weren't fighters, not really. They were peace activists, or leaders at the very least, but not battle strategists. It would be easier if someone else could help her explain it to them… Damn it.

"Blake."

The Faunas jumped at the mention of her name, looking to Yang in surprise.

"Y-yes?"

"How skilled would you say most of the people here in menagerie are? At fighting I mean."

She thought for a moment. "Average." She said at last. "Mediocre at best if I'm honest even with what's been going on over the last few months."

"And how strong were the White fang we fought in say, Vale, when you were still with them?"

"I… better I suppose. They had basic training with both long-ranged and short-ranged weapons in most cases and the experience. They were never at our level as Huntresses-in-training but still better than regular people. Some were, Ilia, Trifa and Yuma are examples of that, but as a whole we were able to deal with them."

"We were." Yang agreed. "They were definitely stronger than what the people here would be."

"There's a lot fewer of them though." Blake argued. "It might be more now that the ones in Vale and Mistral have merged but there was a split because of the leadership."

"You have a point." Yang allowed. "But that doesn't really matter if they have better weapons and training, not to mention the terrain."

"Terrain?" Haven's where they're based right? The place can defend from more than just Grimm."

"Haven is a fortress, same as Beacon." Sun told them. "They have the height advantage and the trek up the mountain wouldn't be something a big army can handle without being out of breath and vulnerable to attack."

"Exactly." Yang nod to her fellow blond. "Honestly, none of that even matters if you can't even get to Mitral."

"What do you mean?"

"Sienna, how did you operate in Mistral?"

The tigress blinked. "Hit and Run tactics mostly."

"And why was that?"

"We didn't exactly have support on the continent. People were openly discriminate and confident about it, being a part of the White Fang made you a target to the common folk as well as the police."

"I thought as much." Yang hummed. "How do you even plan on getting your people to Haven? Because people aren't just going to sit back and let an armed militarised force march through their lands, even if they promise they're the good guys. If anything I'd think people would be even more openly violent against the Faunus because of the hold the White Fang has."

"We'd need another way in." Ghira summarised.

"I'd think going all the way west would be a start." Yang suggested. "Since the city is literally a mountain right on the edge of a cliff you'd be better sailing than walking. That would mean you'd have to build ships though. Also forget about attacking the school, there's no way that would work."

"It wouldn't?" Blake frowned. "But the White Fang did it."

"The White Fang _walked in,_ " The mercenary corrected. "Leonardo let them walk right up to the front door and occupy the place. The Huntsmen are still nowhere to be seen and by the time the city knew about it, it was too late. Some places just _can't_ be attacked head on you know? Not unless you had an endless army to throw at them."

Sienna frowned as she looked down in thought. "If e can't attack their main stronghold then what can we do."

"I said that it couldn't be attacked head-on, not that it couldn't be attacked."

"And the difference is?"

"An actual siege." She explained. "If you can take over the city below, you can cut off their supply lines and starve them out. They'd have nowhere to fall back to, and nowhere to call for reinforcements."

"But that would take months!"

"I'm not saying you should do it." Yang shook her head. I'm just giving you the only option you have. Honestly, there's a reason why the cities are successful; because they have the greatest natural defences than anywhere on Remnant. Most other places are down to some kind of miracle, like Argus, and even then it had mountains on its left and right and the sea at its back. I mean, it took two kingdoms working together to defend _one_ point of access."

"Alright, alright we get your point. "Sienna grumbled. "So realistically that's our only option?"

"it might change, but right now, yeah, so long as you can actually train your people up it's the only option with any chance of success."

Blake shook her head in disbelief. "How do you even know all this? You talk like you've been in a siege before."

"Of course not." Yang dismissed. "I just… read."

An expression crossed over Blake's face at that.

She understood what she was talking about then, but from the looks of it, she still didn't fully believe it.

 _Yeah well I don't need you to believe it, fucking traitor_.

Yang blinked. Where the fuck had that come from?

"A-anyway," she coughed. "Those are just my thoughts, you can. Well I'll wish you luck on whatever you decide to do."

Ghira picked up on the cue. "You're leaving?"

Yang did her best to ignore how Blake's head snapped to her so fast she might have gotten whiplash in favour of nodding. "Tomorrow. It's about time we were on our way. I need to meet up with my sister to decided what we do next and since she's going to be somewhere likely near the city I want to get there was soon as I can."

"So…" Blake mumbled. "You're just going?"

Yang didn't like how hurt Blake sounded by that. What right did she have to be upset? At least Yang was letting her know instead of just running off without a word. She never got even that courtesy.

There were plenty of things she wanted to say, but to bring them up now would cause more harm than good. "Yeah," was what she said instead. "I guess that will be goodbye then… for what it's worth anyway."

Blake looked away for a moment, a complicated look on her face, and her parents let her have that silence, waiting for her to reply, maybe as some sort of proper closure. Yang could concede that she could at least give Blake that, for all she didn't deserve it.

So when Blake looked back at her with a determined glint, imagine her surprise.

"I'm coming with you."

… say what?

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **So that's the end of this chapter and it's time to start ramping things up again. Hopefully neither gangs will be dealing with more bloodshed to boot. We can only hope right?**

 **Hey, at least Penny isn't some psychotic killer robot that Ruby has to kill right? i had a few messeges sent my way about that. Come on guys, have a little faith in me alright?**

 **Not much else I want to say really, we'll be getting into the meat of this... arc, soon but I wanted to give a heads up that once we hit about... chapter 52 or so? I'll be releasing the first chapter of a new story that's up on my profile, House of Thorns.**

 **I was thinking that I might wait until this story is over before doing that becasue it would probably by of similar length to what this is now but since I know this story isn't ending any time soon and I don't want to really wait that long, I'll be sendng out the first chapter. I'll be a little (Or a lot) different from what I usually do so I'll have a disclaimer up on the first chapter regarding a few things.**

 **Hoepully you'll check it ouit when it's up.**

 **Until then though, or until the next chapter of this at least, have a good week!**


	50. On our way: Part 3

**Here we go.**

...

* * *

Weiss wasn't sure what woke her really.

It might have been the warmth in the air. It wasn't hot but… the freezing colds of Atlas were absent. It could have been what sounded like leaves above her head, rustling gently in a soft breeze, maybe how the flaps of her tent beat against that breeze lightly.

Or… it might have been the weight on her chest.

Weiss opened her eyes, and met pools of silver.

"R-Ruby?" Her leader didn't speak as she lay there on top of her and _leaned forward_.

Weiss' breath caught in her throat.

Ruby noticed, and her lips twitched upwards. She leaned in further and her body _ground_ against her own.

What was happening?

Weiss didn't know. This was- This had to be a dream, there was no way that-

Ruby leaned in _even closer_ so that she took up all of Weiss' vision.

And… Weiss didn't stop her. She tried to ignore how flushed her face felt, how heavy her breath was, how her lips parted as Ruby's own inched closer to hers, agonisingly slow.

And then, Weiss heard Ruby's voice… but not from the girl on top of her.

"Neo? Are you up yet? Where are you?"

The girl above her stilled, and Wiess out two-and-two together a moment later as not-Ruby's eyes flickered pink and brown and she grinned.

The heiress stiffened as the girl's skin shimmered, revealing the multicoloured girls form and she sat up. Weiss could only stare as Neo stood, flicking her hair back and turning to leave the tent.

Before she did, she stopped, tilting her head to the side and sending Weiss a salacious wink, and then she was gone.

Outside the tent she could hear Ruby's voice again.

"Neo, what were you doing in Weiss' tent? Oh, waking her up, alright."

That had most certainly not but she'd been doing. Not at all!

Or, she had but…

The burning in her cheeks were proof that she'd done it in a way Weiss had enjoy-

 _Hadn't enjoyed! She hadn't like that at all!_

Bloody criminals.

A few minutes later Weiss had managed to calm down a bit, schooling her features so that she didn't look like an idiot as she exited her tent. When she did, she finally got a look at her surroundings:

They were in a forest for starts. It looked like a small patch had been cleared for them to rest on, but all around they were surrounded by tall trees, undergrowth, and grass aplenty. There was a small campfire set up, not burning anymore except for a few embers that lingered in the ashes, but clear signs that it had been used all the same. Incircling that were eight tents including her own, though everyone had already left theirs, moving around doing something, be that moving crates, packing up supplies or sharpening blades.

Her eyes fell to Ruby – the real Ruby – chatting animatedly with that Cinder woman.

The younger girl was waving her hands wildly as she spoke, and the older of the two was listening patiently, with a small smile curving her features.

Maybe it was the little surprise with that Neo girl, but Weiss suddenly didn't like the picture in front of her.

Fortunately, Ruby noticed her a moment later and brightened like the sun.

"Weiss!" she cheered, standing u and rushing over to her.

Weis may or may not have taken a small bit of pleasure in how Cinder's smile fell.

She wasn't entirely sure why though.

She didn't have time to contemplate it either, because Ruby was in her face a second later.

"Thank goodness you're up." The younger girl breathed. "I was starting to worry. Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine Ruby," Weiss coughed, surprised by the immediate closeness. Again, the events inside her tent flared up. She shouldn't have been surprised by this! It was just Ruby. She'd always been familiar with her. She just had to get used to it again. "A-anyway, yes, yes I'm alright. May I ask where we are? I don't really remember setting up a campsite."

"That's because you were still asleep for it," Ruby explained. "We left Atlas three days ago and you were out like a light the whole time. We're on our way to Mistral now."

"Mistral?" she echoed. "Why Mistral?"

""That's… a long story." Ruby admitted. I'll explain it when we meet up with Yang."

"Meet up with? So you didn't travel with her at all then?"

"No uh, Yang had… other things to deal with. She's been helping me out from a distance but we agreed to find each other after a while. That times almost up."

"I see." She really didn't there was something Ruby was omitting. Not out of malice clearly if her expression was anything to go by, but it felt like he didn't know how to… broach the subject? Was that the right word?

Maybe she should ask Ruby directly?

She didn't really get much time to consider it as another voice called out.

"We're all ready Red, you and the Ice Queen coming?"

"Of course." Weiss groaned. "Of course I should have realised you'd be here."

Roman Torchwich smirked and tipped his cap. "Aw, what's the matter snowflake? Not happy to see me?"

"An understatement if there ever was one." She turned to Ruby. "Why is he even here? Shouldn't he be in, I don't know, prison?"

Ruby shrugged before shooting her a lopsided grin. "Come on Weiss, it's not that bad. I mean sure, Roman crazy to think he looks good in eyeliner-"

"Oi!"

"But he's not that bad. He helped me out a lot."

Weiss frowned. "He was also a part of the attack on Beacon wasn't he? How can I even trust him not to stab me in the back after that?"

"W-well…" Ruby coughed.

"You're going to be sleeping with one eye open then Schnee." The woman, Cinder, said. "Considering you're surrounded by those exact people."

Weiss blanched as the woman stepped over. "W-what? What are you saying?"

Cinder didn't answer for a moment, her amber eyes trailing up and down Weiss' form. She suppressed a shiver at the action, at the way Cinder's face hardened.

"I heard you engaged Tyrian… didn't you?"

"What?!" Ruby snapped, tone suddenly sharp. There was a dangerous undertone in that, that made Weiss finch, but she was more focused on Cinder.

"Where did you- How do you know that?"

"He told me." She shrugged. "He was fairly upset he didn't get to… finish what he started before someone interrupted him."

"He…" Weiss repeated slowly, trying to figure out if she was being messed with. "Told you?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"How?" Cinder raised an eyebrow. "I worked with him of course. I was one of the people who planned the fall of Beacon."

"W-w-wha-" she stuttered reeling back from the woman in front of her that had so shamelessly declared to be a mass murderer. Even now, she smirked as Weiss' face drained of colour she was enjoying her shock.

"Enough!" Ruby barked, and instantly Cinder stiffened. The others stopped around them as the air grew heavy.

Weiss' head snapped around. What on Remnant was going on. "R-ruby you-you know what she did?"

She didn't get a response. Ruby was glaring at Cinder now, those silver eyes were more like steel now, warning of a threat.

"What are you trying to do Cinder?"

The woman didn't answer, turning her head away.

"Don't!" Ruby snapped. "Look at me Cinder."

She did so, with reluctance., and Amber met silver."

"What are you doing?" The reaper repeated. "Why are you starting something with Weiss?"

"She doesn't need to be here."

Ruby scowled. "Cinder we talked about this already."

The older woman returned it now in kind. "And now it's more clear than ever. She's just an extra body, a liability we have to look after. She doesn't even have any means to defend herself."

"Cinder-"

"No, don't ' _Cinder'_ me." She snapped, making Ruby blink. "We've talked about this but it's always just been your decision. We don't have the luxury of attracting attention to ourselves and you decide to do just that by spirting the Schnee Heiress out of Atlas while under fire! How is that sticking to the plan?"

"I told you already-"

"Yes of course, she's your partner." Cinder mocked. "Well so was I. I was your partner before her, for much longer and through much more and yet you don't take my opinion into account."

"How have I not!" Ruby threw her arms wide, her right draping down a moment later, Cinder caught that and looked away, a look Weiss could quite place flickering across her face.

Weiss was beginning to think she'd intruded on something personal, so much so that it actually overcame her prior panic to the woman herself.

She looked around, and the others were shooting them… not worried looks, but cautious ones.

How long had this argument been under the surface?

Had they been discussing it while she'd been unconscious?

"Whatever," Cinder growled. "I stand by what I said. The Schnee may be your partner, but she's a danger to us. You'll be forced to look out for her because she can't defend herself properly, because she's nowhere near our level, nor the level she needs to be and hasn't even an _inkling_ of what's going on, and you'll be hurt because of it."

"I can look out for myself."

"We both know you can't. Not like you used to."

"…"

Cinder turned away again. "I'll be in the bullhead until we go."

She left without another word, leaving Ruby to stare after her.

Emerald bit her lip. "I'll… go talk to her, don't worry about it."

"… Thanks Em." Ruby sighed, bringing a hand up to her head. It looked like she might have had the start of a headache.

The thief nodded, running after Cinder. Ruby let out a heavy sigh.

"Uh," Roman mumbled. "Did that come out of nowhere or was it just me?"

"No," the reaper shook her had. "Cinder's had a short temper ever since we got to Anima… something's bothering her, and it's getting worse."

"Tch," Roman spat. "She's always had a short fuse."

"Yeah, but never with me… something's really bothering her if she's like this." She paused. "Penny."

"Yes Ruby?"

Came a voice from beside Weiss nearly making her jump. When had she gotten there? How long had she been standing there?

"Can you keep a lookout for trouble while we fly? If Cinder's worried then I'm worried."

"I can interact with the ship's radar." She nodded before saluting. "Leave it to me!" she cheered, jogging over to the ship.

"Welp, Roman hummed. Might as well get on with it… I'll uh, leave you two to it."

Leave them to it? What was that supposed to-

"Weiss," Ruby said when they were alone. "Can you… show me where he got you?"

"I, what?" Weiss blinked.

Ruby turned to her now, looking worried. "I can you show me what Tyrian did to you?"

Oh.

"I-I-" she looked away and took a step back. "What makes you think he hurt me?"

"…Tyrian always leaves a mark… always."

So there _was_ more going on. More than Weiss had any clue of anyway.

That was troubling, considering Ruby was fairly blatant that she was hiding things.

But… if she said no, she'd technically be doing the same thing, wouldn't she?

No, no it was different. Ruby was keeping a secret that by the sounds of it, was an important one, while she was hiding a mark on her body, Ruby wouldn't blame her if she said no. She knew that…

But-

"I… have to warn you," she whispered. "I would like to maintain my modesty… so, I can only show you a small portion."

Her partner nodded and hesitantly, Weiss tugged off her shrug to show her bare shoulders.

Ruby hissed when she saw the scar.

"I-I know." Weiss mourned. "I-it's not a pleasant sight. That's why I thought it would be better if I kept it out of sight. I'm sorry you had to see something so-"

"Weiss. Stop."

The heiress' jaw clicked shut as her eyes flickered up to her partners.

Ruby was _angry_.

The look on her face was one Weiss had only seen once; at Mountain Glenn, and at the time, she had been fearful of it. Now, she wasn't, but only because she knew it wasn't directed at her. Weiss couldn't shake the feeling though, the feeling of danger as she stared into those silver eyes. They looked… bright.

And yet somehow that dilled her with trepidation.

She was so busy looking into those orbs that she didn't realise Ruby's hand gliding over her shoulder until the tips of her fingers ran over them.

Weiss flinched back. And Ruby's eyes widened.

"Did I hurt you?"

"N-no." she coughed. "You just surprised me." That, and her touch hand once again brought flashes of what Neo had done while looking like her. She looked away to hide her blush.

This time she was ready when Ruby ran a hand over her scar with her uncovered hand.

"I'll make him regret this." She whispered. "I'll make sure Tyrian pays for hurting you like this."

"You don't have to do that… I can just hide the scar."

"I don't _care_ about the scar." Ruby growled, and Weiss thought it was very _Xiao-Long_ of her. "I couldn't care less about them. I'm not that shallow that I think your scars are something I should look away from. I'm going to make him pay because for this to have happened it means he hurt you. Badly. I won't let it happen again."

"I... see."

Right, what had she been thinking? She hadn't any reason to think Ruby would be repulsed by her scars. She hadn't been with the one that marred her face, what was one more?

"Thank you Ruby.

Ruby blinked, as if she was surprised Weiss was thankful. To her, the promise was probably expected.

All the same, she smiled.

"No problem Weiss." Suddenly, she had an idea. "Hey, you showed me yours, how about I show you mine to be fair?"

"Yours?"

Ruby nodded and lifted her gauntleted arm. It clicked open with a hiss.

And Weiss saw the extent of the damage.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang was frowning. She knew she was frowning because people were shooting her weird looks. They were probably wondering why she had such a sour face when she was getting onto a cruise ship.

Well, there were a number of reasons really. It could have been because Yang really felt like frowning. Smiling was dangerous. It gave you an opening, a weakness to be disappointed when things went wrong. Recently, Yang had plenty of reason to be disappointed, so she wore a frown in stalwart defence of that. It could have also been because Neptune was groaning loudly. He had only just gotten onto the ship when he started whimpering about being on the ocean again. Really, his Avatar was the god of the sea, this had to be some kind of cosmic joke on that fact. It was stupid, and therefore plenty of reason to frown.

But really, Yang knew why she was frowning.

It was because Blake was there, on the ship, chatting politely with the ships captain and first mate like they knew each other, and with every second they kept talking Yang was beginning to get the sneaking suspicion they did.

Yang had protested heavily to the idea of Blake coming with them. She'd given point after point about how Blake _should stay with her family_ and deal with things there. She had no place with their group. She didn't have any experience with what they were dealing with. The fact that things would just be more difficult with three, four of them together would be harder to manage was a good point too, and that Yang just really didn't want her to come.

All her perfectly logical points had been dismissed by Blake, and her stubbornness had shown through.

And because Blake was going, Ilia had decided she was going too so that Blake didn't get into trouble.

That was pretty much a lost cause, but she could at least appreciate Ilia's reasons, so she couldn't say no to her.

Her parents had for some ridiculous reason thought it was a good idea too, as did Sienna.

And so Blake was coming with them.

Great.

The Faunus had been so _enthusiastic_ about it too, arranging a ship for them and everything. Others were travelling to and from Anima, but since Blake had an in with the captain they'd got a place on the next ride over.

Yang had tried one last ditch effort to convince her not to go by saying she would be too recognisable to Faunus and human people, which even she knew was a flimsy-ass excuse, because for nearly a year Yang had _no idea_ that Blake was the daughter of the White Fang's first leader.

Still, Blake had actually agreed, but instead of not going, she'd decided that a wardrobe change would help.

She'd gotten rid of her white coat, and replaced it with…

Well, the armour of the Belladonna personal guard.

Her dad had been particularly happy about the armour part.

She was dressed just like any other of them, with a hood to hide her face and the symbol of her family, she was sure she could pass herself off as an ambassador on Menagerie if it really came down to it with the White Fang.

The fact she was so sure of that annoyed Yang.

The fact that she looked _good_ in it annoyed her even more.

Like fuck, how was Yang supposed to stay mad at Blake if her ass looked that good?

Why was life so unfair?

Ilia was wearing the exact same thing so the two of them blended in and _she_ didn't look that good. She looked good, but not _good_.

Ilia was a good looking girl sure, and she was nice enough if you got past the part where she had been willfully part of a violent terroirists organisation, but she didn't have the looks that made Yang want to tear off her clothes, pin her to the ground and fuck her senseless.

…shit.

Yang scowled at herself. No. She wouldn't fall for trap again. Last time, she had she'd gotten into a-gods-be-damned relationship with Blake. That had been a mistake!

It had!

"Are you ready?"

Yang blinked, realising she'd been daydreaming in her own head for a moment and looked up as the girl in question made her way over. "The captain said we'd be making the voyage now. Have you got everything?"

Yang looked away, crossing her arms beneath her chest. And ignoring how some of the passers-by became _particularly_ interested in the scenery in that direction.

"Yeah, we're ready." She said. "Sun and Nep made sure to stock up for the trip so we should have t worry about supplies or anything"

"That's good."

"...yeah."

There was an awkward pause between them as Blake waited for her to say more.

She didn't.

She seemed to realise that a second later and coughed into her fist. "Anyway, the captain said we'd be there pretty quickly. About a day and a half to get to the first stop. I'm still not sure why you want to get off there when we can take It up the coast further."

"Safer that way." Yang shrugged. "Neptune's weird about it, but being on a boat isn't a good idea if we want to keep a low profile. The ports are usually watched and if something were to happen we'd be trapped in ton the open water… my magic doesn't do great when there's so much stuff around to douse it."

"… Right… your magic… that makes sense I guess."

Yang hummed in response.

Another pause.

"Yang?"

"… What is it?"

"Can… can I ask you a question?"

"You can," she grunted. "Whether or not I answer it depends."

Blake bit her lip and Yang suddenly had the feeling Blake had been thinking about this seriously. Whatever it was. "Can… can you tell me… what's wrong with me? What I am now after… after what happened at Glenn?"

Blake was acutely aware of how the temperature dropped. Logically, she knew it hadn't; they were in a tropical climate, but all the same she shivered. There was the chime of a bell as the ship shunted, moving onto the open water and setting sail. Sun walked by with Neptune and Ilia, leading them to their cabins to put away their stuff, and the other people – the civilians – walked by without notice of the atmosphere.

Yang took a deep breath, and let it out. "I'll… explain it… later. It's not the sort of thing I… just give me a few hours to… get my material together."

"O-oh… okay."

Right… I'll uh… be on the deck later tonight. We can talk about it then."

"Does it... have to be at night?" Yang sent her a blank look.

"R-right. Okay… I can wait, yeah."

Another pause. "I'll um… go to my room then."

"Sure."

Yang didn't say anything more as Blake left, not until the Faunus was out of sight.

But when she did, she cupped her face in her hands and groaned.

"Gods why me?"

Why did she have to be the one to explain something like this to Blake?

She knew the answer to that, of course, she just didn't like it.

She had to think… she had to gather her thoughts, decide how she was going to go about it. Yang closed her eyes, and entered into the Odysseum.

* * *

…

…

* * *

That night, the moon was full, high up in the sky.

It's shattered pieces casing light onto the ocean's surface, as it lapped calmy at the edges of the ship.

The passengers were asleep, while the crew toiled away, making sure that they sailed through the night, and watching out for any Grimm that might surface.

As such, it was quiet, in a way usually reserved for very special places. The only sounds to be heard were the waves, and the creaking of the ship.

And yet still, it made Blake nervous.

She stepped into the deck, looking around, and thanks to her night vision, spotted Yang leaning against the railings, staring out into the moonlit horizon.

She took a breath to calm her feelings of trepidation, even as it made her shiver.

Yang's voice made her jump.

"Well?" the blonde asked, not even turning to face her. "Are you going to just stand there or what?"

Blake swallowed. "R-right." Her stride is stuttered as she makes to stand beside Yang at the railings overlooking the sea. The brawler shifts slightly, resting her obsidian arm along the rails with her palm facing upwards.

A small flame flickered to life.

Great, another reminder that this was really happening.

Yang doesn't speak for a few minutes, enough to make Blake uncomfortable. "So… are we going to start or…?"

"...Yeah." she sighs. "Just give me a minute to think how I'm going to go over this… you wanna tell me where to start?"

" _Is_ there a start?" Blake frowned. "I barely know anything about it. All I know is that it started in Mountain Glenn."

Yang grunted. "I guess that's as good a start as any."

So that's where she began.

Yang told Blake about the doctor who found her after she was dragged into the mountains. She told Blake about how Merlot had revealed the existence of magic to her, and how he created her obsidian arm and leg with the intention of not only getting her back on her feet, but bringing out her spark of potential.

Yang explained how Merlot revealed that her hallucinations weren't actually hallucinations at all, but some kind of… ability she'd had since birth, and how with no one around to teach her, it had been misdiagnosed.

Blake was told how she'd been perfectly sane from the start.

At first, Blake wasn't sure how all of this correlated with… well her own condition.

Until Yang told her about something else Merlot had been working on.

"A wraith?" Blake echoed Yang's words in confusion. "What… is a wraith?"

"You've never heard of them?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe? Not when I was growing up in menagerie anyway. I've heard the word before, but I can't remember where."

Yang shrugged. "Probably a storybook or something. They're not real for most people after all. Not something people have dealt with in a long time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… wraiths are… honestly I'm not one hundred percent sure what they are, no one is, or at least no one I've been able to get in contact with at least. I…" she trailed off, her flames fizzling out for a moment as she closes her eyes.

Blake wasn't blind.

She knew this was hard for Yang to explain. She… wasn't sure why yet, but she knew that even if Yang was angry at her for something, this still hurt her to say.

Really it was the only thing Blake could get out of her. If she understood what was bothering Yang, she might have been able to make things right.

Eventually though, Yang pushed on. Wraiths are supposed to be these… evil spirits I think, at least from legend. They're creations of ancient, nearly godly powerful wizards."

"And how… strong is that exactly?"

Yang scoffed. "From what I've read, nowhere near the actual gods' powers, but still dwarfing the power of armies by themselves. Apparently though, most wizards were scholars or researchers or advisors instead of people who got involved with the world. Good thing too, if they had, who knows how stuff would have turned out."

"I guess so." The Faunus blinked suddenly. "Wait, did you mention gods as a real, tangible thing and not a concept?"

"… why don't we stick to the relevant stuff Blake… if I try to explain everything we could be here all week."

It wasn't a satisfying answer by far, but Blake knew what would happen if she pushed, so she bit her lip and nodded.

"Right, so as I was saying, from what I could gather, wraiths were created by these wizards, which is good, because it means there wasn't a lot of them. They were these experiments to see if humans could achieve immortality… obviously they didn't get the desired results."

Yang waved a hand like she wasn't sure how to go about explaining it for a second, before just giving up and going for the blunt and honest method.

"Wraiths are tortured ancient spirits. I'm not sure if they were human spirits or what, but they were pumped full of magic and all sorts of other things to see if they could persist. They were warped and twisted until they became these… evil things."

Blake swallowed. "E-evil? As in…"

"Not the philosophical, objective kind, I mean actual evil. Wraiths are souls creatures that despise everything that lives. They drain the life from their victims, absorb it into themselves t get stronger and… inhabit corpses to make their own."

"So, so how does this go back to Merlot?" Blake asked. "If it was a spirit then, how did he get a hold of it?"

"Not entirely sure." Yang shrugged. "He found it somewhere in his travels and managed to capture it. It's been so long since they were created now that most people who know about them think they wasted away centuries ago, or at the very least were so weak and deathly that they weren't a threat to anyone. The one Merlot found probably wasn't until he got his hands on it, until he changed it."

The brawler tapped her finger against the railings. "I'm not sure what exactly he did, but he somehow made the Wraith change from a spiritual thing to a physical one. It made it something you could touch yourself, he changed what it was… into some sort of… black ichor… something people might confuse fro Grimm… because maybe in terms of the DNA it is."

Yang's eyes glanced purposefully at Blake, specifically to her-

"You can't be…" Blake chipped her left side. "You're telling me that I… I don't even-"

"Grimm are constructs of magic, Blake." Yang whispered. "They aren't really anything _but_ magic given a purpose for destruction… Merlot had plenty of subjects at Glenn, you saw them yourself with those mutant ones. He did something with the wraith and mixed it with Grimm somehow, maybe their blood, maybe their essence, but either way he got a result."

Blake shook her head. "That can't be right. I… I would know. I would know if this was… was that. I-it shouldn't work like that right? You said wraiths could only use dead bodies."

"I did."

"Well then there you go! It can't have done anything to me right?"

"…"

Yang' silence dragged on.

"Well?!"

"Blake," the blonde said carefully. "Do you remember what the explosion did to you? The one Merlot set off as a failsafe in his lab?"

She frowned. "Of course I do. How could I not?"

"What would an explosion like that do to someone? You were tired, already worn from fighting the White Fang and Grimm to find me. The explosion was strong enough to bring down the lab and the caves around us… it would be more than enough to break through your aura."

"I-I…" Blake looked away. "W-well then maybe it's more complicated than that. Maybe we're not seeing something."

"I think we can see it fine Blake. I think we were told straight up what happened."

"What do yo-"

"Professor Peach read out your medical analysis," Yang cut in. "She explained to us _exactly_ what the damage was. Blake… you lost things you needed to survive… things you wouldn't have been able to function without immediate medical care, and a miracle."

"I-"

"You already know what I'm going to say." Yang cuts her off again, her voice hard. "Wraiths can only enter corpses. It just so happens that after that explosion, there was one right in front of it. You know that Blake."

No. no she didn't. it couldn't be true, it didn't- it didn't make any sense. She would know, wouldn't she? There would have been a hint that would have told her something like this- like- like a light at the end of a tunnel right? Or a-

Or her life flashing before her eyes.

Oh.

 _Oh._

"Oh."

Blake's voice cracked from that one simple word.

Yang's eyes drifted shut.

"Yeah."

"So… so I'm… I died…"

"Yeah."

"I'm… I have a… a wraith inside me?"

"…yeah."

Blake suddenly felt cold. Her skin felt like it was freezing, and her blackened skin, all along her left side;

She was suddenly very aware of how _wrong_ it felt.

"So, I died." Damnit. Damnit all. Her voice was still cracking, she couldn't even keep it steady! "I was possessed by some sort of… of evil spirit."

Yang said nothing. She'd scrunched her eyes shut.

Blake noticed the distance between them more than ever.

She… she needed something. A rock. An anchor. A lifeline.

Yang… offered none of these things.

How did she deserve this treatment? How was this fair? This coldness?

A twisted thought seeped into Blake's mind, something that made her shiver in fear.

"Am I… even Blake then? Or did she die under the mountain? Am I just some ghos-"

"No."

Blake's eyes snapped to Yang.

The blonde's gaze was flat, almost dead, and those red eyes were unfazed and unfocused.

"I can say with complete confidence that you're still Blake?"

A flare of anger swelled up as Blake snarled. "How? How could you possibly know that?"

Yang looked back to the sea. "I don't know a lot about wraiths, even the Odyssium doesn't have much on them since they're so barely mentioned in fairy tales and legend… and folklore is usually… fluid at best. But I do know that wraiths move from host to host looking for more power. You were the first one in its path when it was freed, but there were plenty of chances for other hosts. I don't know. Merlot did more than just revive the thing. Like I said, he changed it. Made it something different. Something new."

A bitter smile spread across Yang's face.

"Besides. I don't a wraith would run away from as many situations as you do… I don't think they'd be able to follow the same pattern."

"W-what?"

Yang sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter now." Something flickered across her face, and as she stepped past Blake, she rested a hesitate hand on her shoulder. "For what it's worth I… I'm at least glad it's still you… and I'm sorry you had to go through it in the first place."

"I…r-right… t…thank you."

Yang's eyes dulled, the red seeping out of them as twinges of lilac returned.

"Blake I…"

Blake turned to her, and froze as she met those same eyes.

For some reason, she suddenly couldn't look away. "Y-yes? What is it?"

Her voice came out in a whisper, desperate for even a wisp of that concern that shone through her partners' eyes.

Her former partners.

Blake made the mistake of breaking their gaze, and suddenly that look was gone, and Yang turned away. "Nothing." She mumbled. "It's… it's nothing. You should get some sleep Blake if you can. AS soon as we hit the docks we'll be moving."

With that said, Yang left, leaving Blake alone as she made her way back into the ship.

Blake didn't move from her spot.

She let out a long, pained breath.

She forced herself to ignore how it became a sob.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair!

Blake glared down at her blackened, gnarled hand with all the hatred she could muster.

"This is because of you. Whatever you are. You- you ruined everything!"

Blake wasn't sure if she was expecting a response, but she didn't receive one all the same.

It was just her up here, just her, alone in the shadows of the moonlight.

* * *

…

…

* * *

 _Twitch…_

 _Twitch…_

 _Twitch…_

Ruby suppressed an annoyed groan as she opened her eyes. Her arm was starting to throb, or it had woken her up at least form all of it.

Ugh, her throat felt dry. Where was she again?

Oh, right, the bullhead. They'd taken off and were still on their way to Mistral.

Ruby yawned, and felt a weight leaning against her side.

She glanced over to see locks of snow draped over her shoulder. It was Weiss resting on her, further over, Penny was sat with her eyes closed. Weiss had clearly chosen between cold metal and warm flesh to use as comfort and chosen the latter. Had Weiss fallen asleep on her?

By the look of it, she had. Ruby wasn't sure why her eyes lingered on Weiss' face, or why she sat there watching her as she murmured something lightly in her sleep, but she did.

Weiss looked… peaceful there, almost. She'd definitely relaxed since they'd left Atlas, and though she'd stuck close to Ruby the whole time, it was still better than the reaper had expected her to be.

Maybe it was for reasons Ruby didn't understand, she wasn't really sure, but Weiss had been pretty shaken up earlier too when she'd seen Ruby's arm. Maybe because it was a reminder of her own new scar, or maybe it was because the burned arm was just uncomfortable to look at that it upset her so much but… well she seemed fine now.

A consistent tapping lifted Ruby out of her musings. It was the sound of a glass heel on metal.

Ruby gazed over to Cinder, who looked even more agitated than she had before. Thankfully it wasn't directed at her, but it was still a peculiar sight.

She'd ask her in a second what was wrong, but first…

Ruby shifted slightly, making sure to rest Weiss' head on the seat gently as she stood up and shuffled over to the cockpit, ducking her head in.

"Everything okay in here?" she asked the two pilots.

Neo gave her a shaky hand gesture.

"Funny you should ask that Red," Roman muttered. "Yeah we're fine, but we're coming over Lake Matsu. Take a look out there and tell me what you see."

It wasn't hard, and Roman made it obvious to what he was referring to.

"Floating island huh?" Ruby murmured. "What is it, gravity Dust?"

"Yep, growing right out of all the little island all over the place. A weird natural phenomenon from what I hear from the science channels."

"Any idea what causes it?"

The thief shrugged. "Beats me. The nerds can't get close most of the time. All the dust messes with communication and signalling, not to mention the islands hold some lancers apparently."

"Yikes. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Nah, we'll be fine as long as we keep in the shadow of the island. If we do run into a problem I'll let you know. Provided we don't go doing in a flaming wreck straight away."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Always sunshine and rainbows Roman."

"I try."

The girl doesn't bother to respond and instead turns her attention to Cinder, who's still tapping her foot and actually looks… nervous.

"Cinder, are you okay?"

"Hm?" the half-maiden blinked. "Oh I'm… no, no I don't think so."

"What is it?"

Cinder frowned. "That's the thing. I don't know. I just have this feeling that something's going to happen. It's been getting worse ever since we left camp and I don't know why."

"What's happening?" came a yawn. Weiss stirs from her sleep and rubs her eyes tiredly.

Cinder narrows her eyes at the younger girl, but other than that ignores her and focus her attention back to Ruby. "I don't know what it is but I think we should be on guard."

"You serious?"

"I am."

Ruby didn't need any other reason, she nodded. "Alright then. Hey Em, Mercury!"

"Huh, what?" The two of them groan, sitting up blearily from where they were. "What is it?"

"I don't know, Cinder has a feeling, and we're in Grimm territory so get ready in case something happens."

Suddenly Roman calls back to them. "Uh, Red, about that."

Cinder tenses as Ruby stepped past her and stood beside Roman. "What is it?"

"No clue but uh, those clouds just appeared out of nowhere."

The girl's eyes flicker up to the sky to see yes, dark storm clouds appearing overhead. She works her jaw slowly. "Is there anything on the radars?"

"Nothing. These aren't exactly military fighters. They can pick up other ships and big Grimm but if it's something small then we're out of luck."

"You thank it's something small?"

"Don't know what else it could be. This storms unnatural."

"Ruby!" Cinder cried in a sudden panic. "Grab your weapon! Brace yourself!"

"What? What is-"

"The other half of my powers! They're close by!"

That was all Cinder got out when a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky and scathed the bullheads sides.

The ship rocked as alarms blared in their ears.

"Son of a bitch!" Roman swore. "We've been hit by god damned lightning! We've taken damage."

"Can we still fly?"

"Barely. But if we get hit again like that we might just up and explode. I'm landing us on one of those islands."

Thankfully, he managed that, even as the ship smoked dangerously and the landing was rough.

The doors of the bullhead shunted upon and Ruby leapt out, the others landing next to her. Weiss' eyes scanned around them. "Do you have any idea where they attack came from?"

"I do." Cinder muttered. "Right in front of us."

Ruby's head shot up, searching for their attacker. She already knew who she'd find, and she couldn't even hope for it to be someone else, for the insinuation of that being the powers transferring.

On an island just above theirs, a spartan gazed down at them.

 _Pyrrha_ , glared down at them, one eye burning brightly.

The rest of team JNPR was with her too, with weapons bared and ready.

Ready, and pointed right at them.

* * *

...

...

 **Bum, bum, bum!**

 **Where did they come from? Why the hell are they attacking our heroes?**

 **It's probably obvious to everyone but why!?**

 **Well, we'll have to wait to find out what happens either way** , **and as such, I'm here to say:**

 **Merry Christmas!**

 **Or at least Merry early Christmas!**

 **Or Hannukah.**

 **Or whatever it is you celebrate, I'm not exactly well studies in other traditions this time of year. Whatever it is, I hope you have a good one over the week. I won't be posting a chapter over the Christmas week, spending time with family and all that, but afterwards we'll be right back into it.**

 **Also, later** on **today I'll be posting the first chapter of House of Thorns, so if you're interested** be **sure to look out for that. It's... well it's different from what I usually do, but I'll explain that in it when it comes out. Either way, I really enjoyed writing it so far.**


	51. CRSMN vs JNPR: Part 1

.

 **I'm back! It's a new year and it's time to work,** hopefully **you've all had a good break yourselves if you've been lucky enough to get one, and welcome back. I want to get right into this one, so I'll wish you all a welcome back if you've been keeping up, and I hope you enjoy.**

 **Sode note, I was tempted to call these Red vs Blue but was worried that might be a little too silly.**

 **Oh well!**

...

* * *

The silence was oppressive. It clung in the air like a fog, weighing down on them.

Ruby looked up at the four figures in front of her.

Team JNPR.

They were alive then. Ruby didn't know why she was surprised, but for some reason she was.

It might have been from the fact that her friends didn't look all too… friendly.

Having weapons pointed at someone tended to do that. They stood on the high ground, another island hovering above them within leaping distance. Ruby didn't like the position she was in. it was at a disadvantage.

Was she really considering her friends as hostiles?

…yes. She was.

All of that was second though, to one detail in particular.

Each of them looked suspiciously like their Avatars.

Ren wore something definitely Mistrialian, and his hair was longer, with his arms and legs wrapped in some sort of steel mesh. It looked light and dangerous, as if he'd fit himself with weapons all-round.

Nora on the other hand wore a heavy coat. It looked like a bear pelt almost, something straight out of Norse fairy tales. Leather straps bound her arms and fur-lined a heavy hood. It was as if she was a real-life raider.

Jaune was far more armoured, breastplate shining brightly, protecting his throat and chainmail underneath. He'd gotten rid of that crummy armour of his from before and added glistening greaves and gauntlets to the mix. His sword and shield looked different too, adorned in silver trimmings and for sharper He looked like a chevalier.

All of this was… troubling.

But not as much as Pyrrha.

The girl looked straight out of a greek epic, something out of the Iliad. She looked like a warrior, a hero that Ruby had always dreamed of becoming.

But there some something off, something strange about her, as if everything had been mishmashes together.

Pyrrha looked like a… a cross between a hoplite and a Spartan, her bronze armour shining in the light and her spear set over her shield.

There was something different about _that_ too.

Ruby could just pick it out. Some kind of mechashift. What it was, she couldn't tell, but it looked like it could be trouble.

They all did, especially with how confident they looked, even outnumbered like they were. Was this something to do with their Avatar status? Had it done something?

Pyrrha was still in possession with half the maiden powers wasn't she?

Ruby licked her lips.

"Hey guys," she greeted, wincing at how her voice carried uncertainty over the gap. "Funny seeing you guys here. We're having a little trouble with our ride. Mind telling us about that?"

"Well you know what they say," Jaune shrugged breezily. "It's dangerous flying through a dust field, especially gravity dust of all things. It can really screw up a flight."

"…yeah…. Cept' for the lightning of course, that really came out of nowhere. You see this clear sky?"

He raised an eyebrow, flicking up his sword and resting it on his shoulder.

Jaune looked too confident. Way too confident for him to have any right to be.

"Weird that. It's almost like someone was trying to shoot you out of the sky. Must have been a mistake."

Ruby swallowed. "Yeah it-"

"It must be a mistake," he cut her off. "That you're here right now Ruby… it has to be, you, Weiss and Penny must have gotten _really_ lost, because otherwise I can't see a reason for you to be with _her_."

Cinder's eyes narrowed as Jaune pointed the tip of his sword at her, looking down the blade at her in contempt.

"Jaune," Ruby spoke carefully. "You need to relax a bit here. Things are complicated."

"They look it. I guess we owe you guys an apology. Pyrrha sensed her on the ship, we've known you were coming this way since you made it to Anima, or _her_ anyway… we might have tried something else if we'd known you were with her. Course we have to take that back because you're _with_ her in the first place."

"Jaune," she repeated. "You don't know what's going on."

Weiss snapped suddenly. "Neither do I apparently! What the hel is going on? Where have you four been? What are you doing attacking us?"

"Weiss listen it's-"

"Complicated."

The reaper stilled and her eyes slowly shifted to Pyrrha. That look of hers was a dangerous one. Those green eyes bore into her in a way they never had before.

How much of that was Pyrrha in there? How much had the maiden power changed for her to look at her like that?

"It hasn't." Pyrrha answered, making her jump. "You're thinking about what this power's did to me? Well it hasn't changed my personality, I promise. It did do something though… it gave me memories. It gave me Amber's memories."

She paled.

Oh no.

"I remember things that never happened to me. I remember how Amber had to run most of her life. I remember how alone she felt for so long, and how she was hunted by people all across Vale."

Ruby had a sinking suspicion she knew where this was going.

Her hands glided to her weapon.

The others saw her motion and tensed, on both sides.

Pyrrha continued as if she hadn't. "I know how she lost half her powers. I know that _she_ stole them, she hurt Amber, scarred her. She took half her soul."

Weiss' eyes flew to Cinder. Then to Ruby and back to Pyrrha. "What?!"

"Ruby's been lying to you Weiss." Pyrrha told her. "She's been lying to all of us. From the very start she's been working for Ozpin and spying on us. Why do you think she was accepted into Beacon two years earlier than the rest of us? With no formal training or even a proper record, why do you think she doesn't _have_ a record? From the very start she's been with Ozpin. She's been keeping things from us this whole time. She still is."

"Ruby?"

The younger girl could hear it, the disbelief in Weiss' voice. She didn't believe what Pyrrha was saying

At least not completely.

But things were clicking together in her head, very slowly, and Ruby not looking back was probably confirming things even more.

She couldn't though. She couldn't take her eyes off them now.

"You're not entirely wrong Pyrrha, but you're not entirely right either, things are a lot more complicated than that."

The champion didn't sneer, but it was a close thing. "Things are always complicated with you aren't they? Every single time people ask a question too close to the truth you come up with the same old excuse; that things are complicated. But do you know the one thing that isn't complicated?"

The redhead aimed her spear at Cinder.

"She worked with the people who brought down Beacon. In front of me I see Roman Torchwick, and a band of criminals, and then I see you three, somewhere you shouldn't be. It's this woman's fault she's dead. That Amber's dead. She took her powers and she died because of it."

She sighed. "I'll ask you once Ruby, because you _were_ Amber's friend. _Step. Aside. Now._ "

Ruby bit her lip. This was really going to happen wasn't it?

Of course it was. She knew it, they knew it. But Ruby couldn't let it happen, not like this. If she could just talk some sense into them, get them to calm down then-

"Are you done?" The reaper stiffened for an instant before she turned to stare at Cinder wit wide eyes. A Cinder that looked bored and no small way irritated.

"What did you say?"

"I said are you done?" The more experienced maiden repeated. "Are you done with all of this? The preaching? The blaming and the crying about how horrible it that your friend told a lie. Are you seriously that childish or are you just dull?"

Cinder smirked at how Pyrrha's eyes hardened. "You talk as if I should feel some kind of crushing remorse for what happened, that I should shed a tear o get on my knees and beg for forgiveness. If that's the case then you're living in a fantasy. What's more you talk as if you have the slightest clue how the maiden powers truly work; Amber is dead, girl, get over it. She was hunted as every maiden has been."

Ruby shifted. "Cinder." She warned.

She was ignored. Cinder was enjoying the look of anger that spread across the champions face. "Honestly, you're more of a disappointment than she was. At least she understood her role and worked with Ozpin for all that was worth. _You_ on the other hand, went into hiding."

"You don't know what you're saying. Don't talk about Amber like you know her."

Cinder scoffed. "Oh but I do. I have half of her soul too, remember? Longer than you have. If you wish to fight me then so be it, but don't use the dead girl's name was a banner to make your revenge feel more important than it is." She shook her head and stepped forward, flames roaring to life in her palms. "Enough of this. I have no interest in fulfilling the fantasies of a child."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Yang yawned loudly to herself as she walked. Ugh, of course she was tired after staying up last night. After Blake left she'd gone back to her cabin, but hadn't gotten any sleep for some reason.

Whatever that reason _was_ she had no idea, but it was annoying either way.

Fortunately they'd docked that morning and gotten off that damn ship. The Captain had come to say goodbye to Blake and let the rest of them know that he was always willing to give them a ride. Good stuff really, even if Yang didn't really want to admit Blake was helping them like that. Sun and Neptune had been wide awake by the time they'd landed (Ilia looked like she'd been dragged through a bush. Not a morning person, clearly.) and after asking a few people for directions they set out on the road.

Those roads were empty of course. There weren't a lot of people that wanted to try their luck out in the open with how bad things were getting with the Grimm, not to mention the White Fang and things they didn't even know about.

Lots of stuff to worry about, but hey, it meant the road was free.

It wasn't too bad. It meant things were quiet, with only the five of them.

Yang was beginning to feel like it wasn't a nice kind of quiet though.

While she led the way, Sun, Ilia and Nep had got into some kind of conversation about the different places they'd been on Anima, two of them going to school here and one being in a… well say what you wanted about terrorist organisations but the White Fang got around.

Blake though? It was hard not to notice how she hung at the back.

Blake had been in a mood since last night.

Yang shut her eyes.

No. That wasn't fair. Blake had just had something big dropped on her. If she felt like shit after something like that then what was Yang supposed to think about it but feel bad for her?

She didn't know, that was the problem. Blake was cutting herself off right now, either trying to deal with things in her head, or not dealing with it at all. The blonde wasn't sure whether that would be a good thing or not.

She couldn't help though. She wouldn't. It would just make things even messier. She'd distanced herself from Blake for a reason. She wasn't going to get pulled back into that. She'd done it once and what had she gotten back for it?

Nothing worth her time, that was for sure.

"So," Sun spoke up suddenly. "Where exactly are we going anyway? Any village or town in mind?"

"Not quite." Yang admitted. "We need to find a place where we can meet up with Ruby yeah, but until we can get in contact with her somehow we don't know what part of the continent she's on."

"So what's the plan then?"

"Well I'm thinking about looking for something in particular. It's just a rumour but uh… we'll see how it works out. We're heading north anyway. We might meet them in Shion or maybe Windpath if we can. So long as we can steer clear of Haven we should be fine."

She sighed. "It's gonna take a while to get there though, especially on foot."

"Maybe not." Ilia offered. "I mean, I know a few ways around."

Yang raised an eyebrow back at her. "Oh yeah? What, some kind of secret paths or something?"

The chameleon grinned. "Kind of. The White Fang set up a few roads themselves through the forests and stuff. It's not like they could use the main ones where they could be seen or ambushed, so they're all around the kingdom."

Yang laughed. "Yeah that makes sense. Guess the White Fang knows something about construction then."

"Well yeah," she said. "It's not like the White Fang is a gig that pays. Most people put on the masks because they have a life outside of it. Most get by on what they can outside. Things like construction are easy jobs for Faunus to get into but that's mostly it. People in Mistral aren't really keen on giving out jobs to us."

"Yikes," Sun winced. "Sounds bad out here."

"It's worse it Atlas, but yeah, a lot of humans see the White Fang as a thing all Faunus support, and lump in a lot of people with us. Which would be fine, if they didn't take it out in the ones that can't defend themselves properly."

"Mistral is the main base for the White Fang." Yang mused. "There's some irony there right? If everything was great and happy there's be no need for the White Fang, but since assholes hate the Faunus, they drive those people towards the White Fang, who then make the Faunus look worse and give people more of a reason to distrust the Faunus as a whole. It becomes a cycle."

"That nobody benefits from," Neptune's added. "Pretty sure that the White Fang's gone down the worst possible path with Adam Taurus in charge now right?"

"I think that was clear when I sided with the Grimm."

"The Grimm…" Ilia parroted before wincing. "You know I'm still having trouble processing that."

The brawler hummed. "I don't blame you. It makes sense though the more you think about it. The Grimm are supposed to be mindless but if you even know the most basic things about the Grimm you know that isn't true. Makes me wonder though."

"About what?"

"Why keep it a secret?"

At last, Blake looked up, a frown adorning her features. "What do you mean?"

"Well Ozpin's been fighting the big bad for centuries, or even Millennia. If humanity knew it had a common enemy don't you think they might have joined together to fight? Or at least not been in as much of a mess as they have been in the past."

"Maybe he thought people wouldn't believe him, or maybe he was worried people might join Salem."

"Well from the looks of it they already have. It's not like he couldn't have shown people proof and I mean, he's been in some pretty important positions before in his past lives. Headmaster of Beacon is nothing to scoff at either. It just doesn't make sense."

Sun gave her a look of recognition. "You've been thinking of something haven't you?"

She nodded. "Salem's got the advantage of people not knowing about her. I mean think about it, if people knew, then Ozpin could blame every bad thing that went wrong on her, and she couldn't turn as many people against each other if they knew it was her fault right?"

"Right… that makes sense I guess."

"So why hasn't he tried it then? The more I think about it, the more things Ozpin's done doesn't make sense, especially if he wanted to bring humanity together against Salem right?"

"Like?"

"The Faunus for one."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Yang rolled her eyes. Of course Blake would look at _her_ accusingly, like it was somehow her fault.

Bitch.

She blinked. Again? Okay… moving on.

"Ozpin was the last king of Vale," she went on if only not to cause a scene. "He was the king that ended the Great War, which makes sense when you think about it in hindsight. I'm pretty sure it said he ended the war the first time he fought on the battlefield himself. He had to have been crazy powerful for something like that."

"How does this have anything to do with the Faunus though?" Blake pressed. "Vale were the ones who ended slavery."

"Vacuo never _had_ slavery." She countered. "It's all nice and proud in the history books, but slavery as a practice was falling out of fashion before it became illegal. The nice ole' king of Vale had something to do with that of course, but only because it was a political move."

"The Faunus rights revolution took place after the Great War. There were no more kings after the Great War."

"You're right, there weren't." Yang agreed. "But the King of Vale still held power until his death, superseding the council."

"I… didn't know that." Blake admitted, actually looking surprised

"It's Vale politics. Not something the rest of the world would actually teach in other kingdoms schools."

Not mentioning of course that Menagerie didn't actually have a properly established educational system or universities. They weren't impoverished, but eighty years was never going to be enough to build a full-on properly functioning civilisation when isolated like they were. Even when they were built on the ruins of an old one, Doc had said it had been an old fortress there for the silver-eyed warriors' thousands of years ago and nothing since… maybe especially because of it. Most were likely homeschooled by parents or teachers in groups if they were lucky. And Blake?

Well if being a part of an activist group since birth took time out of school days, then joining a terrorist organisation at twelve did even worse.

"It was around this time though that the Faunus as a species were 'gifted' Menagerie. Pretty sure we know how well that one worked out."

It was what started the right revolution in the first place after all, and it hadn't really improved their situation even now. Maybe that was just because Ozpin couldn't foresee how other people would act… but she had a feeling it wasn't.

"The king was still in charge when they shipped the Faunus off to another continent. That sort of isolation wasn't something that happened by accident. You know what that means right?"

Ilia nodded even as a frown spread across her face. "This Ozpin guy wanted rid of the Faunus. The king might have died when the rights revolution was over, but even when he'd outlawed slavery he didn't want them in his kingdom."

"Exactly. They 'why' is something I can't figure out though… and it's not the only thing. Some of it's just… weird."

"Seriously?" Sun groaned. "What else could there be?"

"The King was _also_ still in power when Atlas oh-so-graciously offered the CCT to the rest of the world… how much you wanna bet Oz was involved in its design?"

"Would he be though? It was a different kingdom."

"Yeah, but the _leaders_ of the kingdom were replaced by councils, meaning people he could put in power behind the scenes. At least the first time around."

"People who answered to him." Neptune finished. "So he had a hand in how the CCT works."

"Exactly. It always confused me though, even without adding Ozpin into the mix. You've thought about it too right? Why there was such a big flaw in the communications from the very start. I mean, if one of the towers go down then so do the rest right? If a guy like Ozpin knows Salem is working to divide people then why would he left a design flaw like that through."

Blake stared. "You think he _wanted_ it to fail?"

"Not now obviously, but it's the only reason I can think of for something like that existing and not being fixed nearly eighty years later. Again, I don't know why though."

Ilia sighed. "Of sure, bring up all these aching questions but don't give us any answers. That's totally cool right?"

"Heh… sorry about that."

"It's fine." She muttered. "It just means I might actually have to take every conspiracy theory online seriously now."

Yang laughed. "I wouldn't recommend it. Your head might explode if you do. There are some crazy ones out there. And I'm talking about the people as well as the ideas."

"The sad thing is though. I can't even say which ones are completely made up and which ones are not. Next thing I know you'll be telling me aliens' area thing."

"Nothing like that luckily. Seriously though, we already have magic, would aliens be all that crazy to think about?"

"YES! Ugh, now my head hurts."

Yang laughed loudly as the chameleon Faunus groaned.

And then suddenly she froze.

Sun glanced around as the blonde girl sniffed the air.

"What is it? Grimm?"

She shook her head. "No. there's a… a scent. Some sort of trail… and I think it's something I'm looking for."

Yang stepped off the road and pushed through the trees and into the undergrowth.

The came across something quickly.

It looked like there's been a fight. Burned trees and bullet holes, ragged clothes and discarded weapons lay scattered across the ground. Some sort of shootout? An ambush or robbery? No… no this was something else.

The others followed. "What is it?" the asked, standing over Yang as she kneeled down.

"Nothing concrete… but I think it's a clue."

She picked up a plain weapon copper with old blood.

Just what she needed.

"A clue to what exactly?"

"This blood belongs to someone from a certain group that's supposed to be around here, or at least that's what I heard. They're trouble, something a group of people like ourselves should handle.

"Oh yeah? Who?"

Yang grinned.

"The Branwen Tribe."

* * *

…

…

* * *

"Well? I'm waiting for your answer girl?"

Weiss' eyes flickered back and forth between the two groups.

Everything was crashing down around them.

She thought she had an idea of what was going on at first, but now? Now she was floundering.

"Cinder, stop it!" Ruby snapped, even as her eyes refused to leave team JNPR.

Her leader looked angry, frantic even, which wasn't something Weiss saw often. But then what did she know?

Apparently Ruby had been keeping secrets from them this whole time.

Working for Ozpin? How? Why?

What could _Ruby_ have to offer a headmaster of a Huntsman Academy?

She'd seen it though, hadn't she? Ruby had gone with Ozpin during the Fall of Beacon. She hadn't gotten an explanation then and she didn't have one now. Ruby hadn't told her anything!

If… if Ruby was lying about something like that, about how she was even accepted then what else could she be lying about?

Was Ruby even being truthful about how she acted around her? Or was that old mask she wore at times the real her?

Weiss' head was starting to throb.

Around her, the others were tensed for a fight. Pyrrha looked furious.

I can't believe it. I can't believe how someone like you can talk down to me like you have some sort of moral high ground. You murderer."

"Not a moral high ground, girl, a logical one. Amber isn't the first girl to die because of the maidens power, she's not the first one to be hunted. You're acting like I've committed some unforgivable sin in taking the power of someone given a death sentence by obtaining those powers."

Ruby grit her teeth. " _Cinder. I. said. Stop it._ "

"What does it matter?" she drawled. They've already made up their mind to fight us. You won't be able to convince them otherwise."

Pyrrha shook for a moment, before her shoulders suddenly slumped.

"…You're right…" she sighed. "Amber… she died in my arms. She was bleeding, and suffering, and her last words were… were that she didn't want to die… but she did." Pyrrha's left eye flared with fire.

Weiss took a step back as something _**Writhed**_ within her.

"She died. And I'm going to make sure her death is avenged."

"This is your last chance guys," Nora spoke, finally stepping into the conversation. She shifted, raising her hammer a little higher. "Step away from the bad guys… or we'll treat you as one of em'."

Ruby's eyes narrowed as she lowered herself to the ground.

"No."

Silence.

Jaune sighed disappointedly.

"Okay then… I guess that's that. Sorry about this."

Weiss' eyes widened. "Wait a minute. They weren't actually going to-

Jaune moved.

And everything went to hel. Everybody around her sprang into action as team JUNPR collided with them.

Before Weiss could even register what was going on, Jaune was in front of her.

Of course, she was the only one without a real weapon, and one of the people that Jaune knew. He knew _how_ she fought to at least so degree. It made sense.

What caught her off guard, was the _speed_ at which the blond moved.

Fast. He was too fast!

It was like she'd blinked and missed him and he was suddenly in front of her with his sword raised.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out, reaching for her scythe even as the heiress backpedalled away.

She knew instantly she wouldn't be able to dodge fully. That was fine. Of course it was. She could still defend.

Weiss raised her hand and clenched around a hilt that hand yet to form and called upon her semblance, summoning a sword in her hand to defend her-

 _Weiss felt something_ _ **pull**_ _at her chest_.

Her sword flickered into existence, but something ground against it. An invisible force pressed down on her lungs as she dragged out her power.

She gasped as the blade appeared at the very last instant and Crocea Mors crashed against it.

Weiss felt every single bone in her body rattle.

The force pushed her down so intently she lost her footing and stumbled, falling to one knee.

She barely got the summoned sword up again in time to block the second strike that sent her down again, and her eyes widened when Jaune carried through with the strike as it sparked off her blade and swept up in an arc towards her face.

She crossed the weapon against her chest desperately and cried out as Jaune's connected and ripped her off her feet and into the air.

The world spun, or she did and the ground sped towards her quickly.

She braced for the impact when a pair of arms caught her.

The heiress blinked as she realised she was pressed against Ruby's chest, the younger girl had caught her.

The look on Ruby's face let her know that even though her arms glowed from the aid of dust, it had been painful for the girl to make that catch.

Her arm was twitching as Weiss got her feet under her again.

Jaune stood not ten feet away from them, sword resting on one arm and watching them carefully.

Weiss' eyes flickered around her. The others had been separated for each of them.

Each member of team JNPR had taken a pair.

Jaune was in front of them. Ren took Neo and Torchwick, Nora was against Emerald and Mercury and Pyrrha was already engaged in deadly combat with Cinder and Penny.

Penny, who was one hundred percent made of metal.

It was a bad matchup all around. It should have been fine, they outnumbered them, and it wasn't like Ruby's companions were weak by any stretch of the imagination.

So why did it feel like they were the ones at a disadvantage?

Ruby rolled her shoulders beside her. "Can you fight?"

Weiss grimaced as she stole a look at her leader's arm. "Can you?"

"Yes. I don't know what Jaune's deal is right now, but I know I'm still faster than him. The problem is whether or not you can't fight him upfront."

"I could when we were at Beacon."

"That was nearly a year ago, and JNPR's been MIA in the wilds that whole time."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Oh."

And then there was a whir of gears as Ruby's scythe snapped open.

It wasn't Crescent Rose.

The half was long and dark red, metallically glistening up to a two-sided grip and dual triggers underneath.

The scythe's blade looked like it was divided into sections, longer and wider than they had been before, and the last section equipped with a wickedly serrated edge.

The whole thing looked lighter, more balanced but Weiss had a feeling that wasn't enough. The fact was, Ruby couldn't use both of her arms. Even now, as she rested the weapon across her shoulder her right arm hung down limply. Could she even be as capable of blocking a hit as efficiently as she had before?

Was that a trick? Was there something she was missing?

There was no time to ask because Jaune was rocketing forward at breakneck speed. Weiss self-preservation kicked in faster this time and she thrust forward, carefully. This whole thing was a disaster, but Jaune was still a friend. If she made a mistake and pushed too hard, hit too fast she could seriously hurt him.

Jaune it seemed, had no such thoughts.

He saw her sword coming and kicked off the ground, spiking the earth as he flew over her and stabbed down at her head. Sparks flew again as she brought up her blade to defend herself and tried her hardest to stop the shaking in her arms.

The blond twisted mid-air and swung down with one leg that crashed into her shoulder and dragged her up.

She stumbled, losing her footing again as Crocea Mors arced down.

Ruby's blade intercepted it before it could connect.

Jaune was thrown back, giving Weiss room to fall back even as he flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

Ruby hadn't stopped moving. She turned on a dime and dashing back in, swinging her scythe in one arm, using her momentum to lift it high enough as she passed Jaune again.

He raised his sword to block and weathered the kickback he received. Right as her scythe hit, Ruby flipped, spinning on her heal and launching forwards in a burst of rose petals.

Again, Jaune lifted his weapon and pushed out with a growl as the curved blade caught it, pulling him along for an instant before he locked his feet and countered with a lunge. The tip of his sword passed by Ruby's face with a hiss of air and the reaper hopped back, twirling her scythe and resting it on her shoulder again.

Weiss swallowed. He could react to her partners' speed then… he'd definitely gotten better. This could be a problem, especially if the others ended up joining in before they could beat him. They needed to deal with him now.

They could face him two-on-one, right?

There was only one way to find out.

Weiss called on her summon again, forcing past that stranger pressure that made her head thump as a knight formed at her back.

Jaune's eyes narrowed at the sight and with a click his shield opened up on his arm.

Weiss wasn't about to give him the opportunity to attack again.

Her glyphs formed under her feet and shot her forward and she stabbed out. Jaune caught it with his own and deflected her summons sword strike from above. She spun, swiping low at his ankles. He back stepped and slashed out at her.

The summon caught in on its guard and kept it there long enough for her to thrust at his chest again.

And again, he stopped it with his shield, ducking down and pushing her arm up.

Ruby was there the next moment, cleaving at his side so fast Weiss almost missed it.

Jaune didn't, and dragged her summons sword down as his own shield.

Ruby hooked around it and manoeuvred herself to his other side as Weiss swiped at his sword arm.

It sparked off his armour and her eyes widened as he let himself drop completely to the ground underneath Ruby's next attack and kicked out, sweeping the heiress feet out from under her and lashing out at her before she could even hit the ground.

She gasped as his boot crunched into her stomach and fired her hit her hard, so hard in fact that it knocked her off the floating island.

She was lucky there was another below to stop her fall.

She groaned all the same as she landed and her aura flared up to protect her.

Up above, she could still hear the sound of steel clashing on steel as Jaune and Ruby fought.

Weiss shook her head in an effort to dispel her dizziness. It was pretty safe to say that Jaune was kicking their asses right now.

Damn it. It felt like her heads was about to explode.

A flash in the corner of her eye caught her attention suddenly, and she turned in time to see Penny crash _through_ an island and into the next. She rolled and hopped to her feet as metal wings sprouted from her back and she flew back up to where Cinder and Pyrrha fought.

It was too fast.

Way, way too fast for Weiss to keep up.

All she could perceive was how dangerous and deadly every attack was, every blow that they traded was one meant to kill.

Cinder was like a whirlwind with her dual blades, deflecting, parrying and lacerating the air with each movement.

Pyrrha was no better, the mistral champion was practically unmovable, her weapon shifting so fast between sword and spear they blended together. And there were sparks – actual electric sparks – running along the metal, and with each flurry of blows she matched with Cinder's those sparks cracked the ground around her.

And both of them had a single eye that blazed like a bonfire.

"Yo princess!" Emeralds voice cut through the violence as she leapt back from Nora's hammer blow that carved through the earth and shook their island. She didn't look at Weiss as she spoke, preferring to lay down a hail of bullets as Mercury came at the hammer wielder from behind.

Nora pushed through it like it wasn't even there, letting out a roar as she smashed down again. "Get your head in the fight already. Red needs your help so help!"

Her head didn't feel like it was going to break into a million pieces.

But she was right. She couldn't be down here when Ruby needed her help.

She grit her teeth as a black glyph spun beneath her feet, humming as it threw her into the air. It launched her up, back onto the higher island and above the fighting duo.

Ruby was on the retreat; dashing side-to-side and defending as best she could as Jaune chased after her.

He hadn't seen her yet.

That was good.

It gave her a chance.

Heat swelled in her forearm suddenly as red crystals grew from her skin. Fire Dust built up along her arm and as she hit her arc and began to fall again she threw out a hand.

A wave of fire washed over the island. Jaune noticed it at the last moment and leapt back, bringing up his shield in time to negate the burns. Weiss landed beside her partner as she caught her breath.

"Thanks," Ruby said. "But what as that? You didn't have any dust on you. How are you using it like that?"

"Don't worried about it." She answered, right arm again as the fire Dust fell away and ice took its place. It wasn't perfect, but she could use it as a makeshift shield if her offhand wasn't going to be doing anything else. "I can hold him for a few seconds at a time. Use those to some good hits in."

"That's what I've been trying to do." The reaper grumbled. "It's not really working all too well. You'll need to do more than slow him down."

Weiss' head felt like it was burning up. Her ears were filled with crackling.

Like static.

She had to ignore it right now.

"Leave that bit to me."

"Alright then." Ruby nodded. "Let's try that out."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "You really think I'm going to let you? I can still hear everything you're saying from over here."

"Doesn't matter if you know what's coming or not." Ruby shot back, bending her legs. "It only matters whether or not you're good enough to stop us."

"And you don't think I am?"

"We'll just have to see now won't we?"

A spear of ice passed by where Jaune's head was the very next instant. Weiss wasn't about to wait for them to finish talking, and Ruby knew it.

Jaune did too, and instead of stumbling like she'd wanted he rolled, kicking off the ground and throwing himself towards them.

Weiss swiped out with the hand covered in Dust and sent out a barrage of icicles and swept across the ground. The blond was forced to dodge them lest they stab into his shins

Ruby took the chance it gave her and sped to the side, circling around and chopping like a woodsman at his back.

And the two of them engaged in a melee.

It was easy to see that Ruby couldn't fight like she had before.

The fact was that physically she was weaker, wither that be because of her injury, or a lack of the right kind of training, but it meant she couldn't use her scythe the way she used to.

She didn't use the recoil to boost her momentum in the same way, she didn't spin her weapon to defend or use her haft to bock.

Her old style was gone.

She made up for it with her new one.

Arms, legs, shoulders, hips; everything and anything Ruby could use she did. The scythe didn't so much swing as it _rolled_ over her own body. She twisted and turned, never properly holding her weapon and instead using her joints to wield it the way she wanted.

If she needed to attack from above, she used her shoulder and elbow. If it was from the side she used her hips and thighs.

She had an entirely different way of moving. Her footwork was impeccable, like she was dancing, but every instant she did was marked by a blast of rose petals that sped her up to a pace Weiss knew she couldn't match on her own. All of this she did with one hand down.

It was just enough to keep up with Jaune.

How had they both gotten this good?

How had she been left so far behind?

Weiss grit her teeth as her head screamed at her and with a snarl she dashed into the fight.

She threw out a flurry of thrusts that pelted against Jaune's shield

He grunted under this new sudden force and pushed back against it. Weiss summon appeared beside her and brought down its sword with a heavy strike that cracked the ground.

Again, Jaune caught it with his shield and dragged it down in time to glance off Weiss' next attack.

It was right where she wanted it, and as fast as she could she reached out and closed her right hand around the edge of the shield. Ice burst out of her hand and over the shield.

Jaune's face twisted as hat ice swathed over his fingers. It forced his hand to the shield yes, but it also stiffened his arm, enough so that he couldn't move it in time to stop Weiss kicking out.

Her heel crunched against his knee.

It didn't bring him down, he pushed through that, but he couldn't push through Ruby's scythe as it hooked around the back of that same knee.

Ruby pulled one of her triggers and Jaune barked out in pain as the scythe yanked it out from under him and his aura flared up to stop the steel from cutting deeper.

Ruby dug her blade into the ground and threw herself over it, smashing her heel into his face and knocking him over.

He rolled up just in time to a block of ice in the chest that sent him flying.

The moment of triumph didn't last long, and Jaune stole something right out of Pyrrha's repertoire, and used his own shield to launch himself straight at them

He slammed into both of them like a bullhead. It might have been fair to say he clotheslined them, if not for the fact he then wrapped his arms around them as he flew past them, dragging them along with him.

Right over the edge.

Weiss cried out as she was thrown out over the open air and cried out louder as she plummeted down. The wind screamed past her as her hair whipped around her.

She was falling.

Falling faster and faster.

There were no islands beneath her. Just the open water.

Except at this height, at this speed it might as well have been concrete.

She needed a landing strategy.

Quickly.

The wind stung her eyes as she reached out and summoned a black glyph beneath her. She tore through it like paper.

It slowed her down for less than a second before she was falling again, picking up speed again.

She summoned another, and she tore through it just as fast.

She did it again and again and again as she tumbled down and down and down as the lake got closer and closer and closer.

Her head felt like it was about to splinter.

She needed more. More power to stop her fall. For ways to slow it.

She reached out, one more time, and felt her body burn as she summoned a back glyph.

And another and another and another, as many as she could

Dozens, maybe even a hundred all in a line below her.

And in the next instant she met them.

Each felt like she was smashing through a window, each on hurt as she passed through it.

Each one slowed her down just that little bit more. She just needed enough so that the stop wouldn't be fatal. Just enough for that!

Dust splintered through her skin, white and blue, wind and ice she pushed it through her body as hard as she could.

The wind pushed her up, or at least, slowed her down further as she crashed through another glyph as the ice shot down and spread out over the water.

It froze it solid. That could have made it worse. If she made a mistake the ice would be worse than the water.

But she needed something to cushion it, or lessen the impact.

Like a slope.

A jagged rock of ice rose from the lack and smoothed into a slop beneath her. Right she just had to-

Weiss' thoughts were cut off with a gasp.

She was already there.

Her stomach slammed into the slop as she skid down, rolling and tumbling down it painfully. She bounced off the ice and back onto her back as she landed again.

There was silence.

Before she coughed in pain.

Weiss groaned, clutching her stomach and curling up.

She'd landed painfully, badly, and she wasn't sure how much aura she had left from the fall.

It hurt. It hurt all over.

The only thing that hurt worse was her head.

"Weiss!" came a cry from Ruby.

The Heiress opened her eyes to see her leader stumbling towards her, soaking wet.

She must have fallen into the water, but she'd managed to slow herself down enough at least. She was shaking on the ice Weis had made, that ice that was spreading further and further. Right. She needed to stop that. Her right arm as completely covered in it, like a second skin almost.

It was so cold.

Ruby was next to her suddenly, hands hovering over her shoulders. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

"I-I'm fine." She coughed. "Just help me up."

She did so, the white-haired girl's legs were shaking even as she managed to get her feet under her. She looked around. "Where's-"

 _Crack!_

Her question was answered before she could finish it as a sword burst out of the ice and fractured. A hand was next and Jaune broke the surface with a strangled gasp. He dragged himself up onto the ice and struggled desperately for air, coughing and spluttering as he did.

The worst part, was that it didn't look like his aura had taken all that much of a hit.

"You know, at first I was just annoyed," he groaned as he stumbled to his feet. "But now, I'm pissed."

"You're the one who threw us off the side." Ruby growled.

"Yeah, and it wouldn't have happened at all if you had just backed off." He snapped angrily, already his sword was in hand and his shield was up, the ice had broken away in the fall. "Don't blame me for your mistake."

Ruby clenched her teeth and raised her scythe one more time.

Weiss looked at her worriedly. It was clear she was hurt from the fall, and exhausted from the fight.

She was no… she was no… better…

Weiss felt herself sway.

She… was dizzy.

Jaune moved. "Let's finish this already!"

He sped across the ice towards them, Ruby readied to meet him and-

Weiss fell to the ground.

There was a noise as Jaune's boots crunched on the ice and he came to a stop.

"What the-"

"Weiss?" Ruby turned. "Weiss what's going on?"

She got no answer from the Heiress.

All Weis could do was shake as she pressed her head against the ice.

It hurt. God it hurt so much.

"What going on? What's happening to her?" Jaune asked, their fight seemingly forgotten. There was a look of confusion, or worry on his face. He didn't know what to do.

Neither did her partner.

"I-I don't know. Weiss talk to me, what's happening?"

It hurt. It hurt like nothing she'd felt yet.

There was only one thing that even came close to this pain. Even that didn't measure.

The feeling of Dust _tearing_ apart her body was nothing like this!

It hurt. It hurt!

It was her head. It felt- felt like it was going to explode.

Rip.

Tear.

Break.

Splinter.

It felt like something was trying to claw its way out of her skull.

Trying to crush her eyes and incinerate her eardrums.

Her mind felt fragile.

Like glass.

It felt like it was cracking, breaking.

And then it did.

' _ **Dann bin ich dran.'**_

Weiss shattered into a million pieces.

* * *

...

 **Uh-oh... looks like Weiss is running into some technical issues or... something. With what's happening between everybody else, now might not be the best time. Yang, on the other hand, looks she's got things under control for now... sort of, eh, we'll have to wait and see.**

 **On a work note, this was basically a chapter long fight scene. Don't know how that worked out honestly, I had to cut the chapter in half because it was getting so long, so it's not over yet. Guess it's up to you whether it kept you engaged or not.**

 **Either** way **things are going to gear up next chapter, or, they already have, but we're not done yet though. Until then though, we just have to wonder what's going on with Weiss.**


	52. CRSMN vs JNPR: Part 2

**Okay, so a few things before we start that aren't really all that important, and one thing I feel _is_ important so I'll save that to the end of this little not. First of all, this latest chapter am I right?**

 **The chorography of the Adam v Blakes fight was excellent, and the Yang fight had me pumped. The Mech fight was great too, bar a few exception where I feel things could have been a little faster this episode was fantastic. We finally got Adam's eyes too and I was… half right I guess?**

 **I had it that both his eyes were red and bloodied, but honestly I think what RT had was better. Actually Slave branding is _far_ heavier than what I had. People were complaint out how it made no sense for SDC to be on his face though. I'll counter that with the face that in real history that's exactly what they did, you can look it up but I feel like it fit better than a snowflake and has more gravitas to it. This along with the next chapter that I've see with first has been amazing to me.**

 **That being said, I know this is just a story on the internet but I want to give my thoughts. You can feel free to skip it if you want but here they are:**

 **The disrespect being shown to Miles, Kerry and the rest of the CRWBY is in a word, despicable. The amount of vitriol hatred they've gotten over the last few weeks has been has made my blood boil. All thee accusations that RT is disrespecting Monty's memory, that they've ruined the show or anything else they've come up with is plain idiotic. Look the assholes saying this have any idea what Monty wanted at all. They're just pushing their own ideas on people and acting like it's some high scripture.**

 **That's not even addressing the people flipping their shit over BMBLB recently. I'm guessing it's none of you readers since I'm guessing the ships in this story have already repealed the kind of people who would freak out about it. But I've heard so ridiculous things, like it's pandering, that they're giving into the 'wasps' or that they're (again) going against what Monty wanted. Like they would know. This is the guy who made Haloid of gods sake. Have you seen they ending to that?**

 **It's just crazy. I always hear about the awful BMBLB shippers, and while I don't doubt they exist, the fact is that I see far more people being toxic _against_ the ship than for it, attacking the voice actors over it ever time they mention it. For gods sake, Arryn is allowed to enjoy a ship without people jumping down her throat about it okay?**

 **This is probably more "ranty" than I wanted it because I seriously don't think any of you would be this sort of people. It's just something I wanted to talk about. I know it sometimes comes off that I give RT, Miles and Kerry some shit about their writing choices and stuff, but I have a lot of respect for them, and seeing people treat them like this and not act like the adults they're supposed to be just pisses me off.**

 **So… I'm pretty much down with that. Hopefully all this ridiculousness will die down soon and people can actually get back to enjoying RWBY without people breathing down their necks about it.**

 **I, for one, will respect ships like Black Sun if they do become cannon and take it in stride, and I will take every moment of BMBLB that I can get.**

 **You have no idea guys, as soon as they started holding hands I yelled –**

 **"VINDICATION!" At the top of my lungs.**

 **This of course confused and frightened my friend, who comes over to watch it with me every weekend, cuz First membership is useful for that sort of stuff.**

 **So! The actual important thing I wanted to mention then, this chapter was completed with the aid of JackTheSpades, who did all bar two words of the Germanic translations this chapter. So a big thanks to them for it, If' I'd done it myself, I probably would have made a fool out of myself with it. They're a regular reviewer and have been a great help to me this far.**

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby didn't see it coming.

One minute, Weiss was on the ground, keeled over and clutching her head in some sort of pain, the next, Ruby is blasted off her feet by a roaring shockwave. She spins in the air, getting her feet under her as she lands and slides across the rapidly spreading ice.

There's a scrape beside her and Jaune lands a moment later, rolling to his feet and raising his shield.

The force hasn't stopped. It was as if it was pushing them back like a constant, rolling wave.

It was like some kind of warbling energy, unstable, dangerous and powerful. And it was emanating from Weiss.

"What's going on?" Jaune yells over the energy that's so strong it makes a booming noise, like metal crashing together.

"I don't know!" Ruby calls back. "There's something wrong with Weiss!"

"Oh you think?" she can't respond because suddenly the energy pulls back and-

Exploded out again in a fury.

Frost and wind was thrown up as the two Huntsmen are lifted off their feet again and the ice spreads across the lake like a sheet so fast Ruby blinks and misses it.

They land again, but the power is gone now, and there's a cloud of smoke where Weiss had been.

Not dust, smoke.

"Weiss?" Ruby calls. "Are you okay?"

No answer. Her stomach drops. What's going on? What was that?

Hesitantly, Ruby's eyes meet Jaune's.

Looks like the fight is postponed for the moment.

The sound of feet crunch on the ice echoes through the otherwise silent glacier.

"Red! Are you alright?" Roman asks, getting to his feet as the others land, all of them.

She nodded. "I'm fine. It's Weiss. Somethings happened." Her eyes flicker over him and the others.

His coat is burnt, his sleeves scuffed and there's a cut on his cheek that his aura hasn't got to yet. His hat's also missing.

Neo only looks slightly better. There are patches of marks and dirt all over and she's got a bruise forming on her neck. The two of them had gone after Ren hadn't they?

A quick look his way as he turns to his own team shows that he'd taken some damage at least; cuts and bruises littering his body.

The rest are in the same boat minus Penny, who's got wires showing instead.

"What is it?" Cinder asks, stepping forward to try and get a good look through the smoke. The way she narrows her eyes it looks like she's not getting much.

"I don't know." Ruby admits. "Weiss just… freaked. I'll check on her now."

"No," Pyrrha ordered. "Stopping her in place. "Don't move."

The reaper glared at her. "This isn't the time for fighting over a grudge. Can't you wait one minute at least?"

"That's not it," The Spartan shook her head before shooting her a look. "And will continue _that_ later… there's something else wrong."

"What are you-"

Nora's eyes widened as she leapt away. "Back up!"

It's the only warning they get before _another_ blast rolls over them, this time accompanies by spires of ice that spike out of the ground at blinding speed.

"What the-" Ruby gasped as she sliced through one aimed right at her, only to have to retreat as two more take its place.

What was this?! The ice doesn't stop, it gets worse.

Bullets of ice launched themselves out of the smoke, screaming through the air like a hurricane.

Pyrrha's shield shuttered.

Her shield overlaped, the metal opening and extending out, turning, wrapping around before Ruby's eyes and when it's finished, it's no longer the Dipylon Ruby knew, but an aspis.

Damn it, what else had changed?

The champion raised her shield as the bullets pelt against it, her eye blazing bright as storm clouds roll in suddenly overhead, blocking out the sky. Cinder realised what was about to happen before Ruby and with a growl, grasped her hood and yanked her back.

A bolt of lightning cracked down like a hammer, arcing down and striking the ground in front of them, followed by a dozen more in a line and chain together, wiping the projectiles out of the air in an instant.

It didn't stop there.

The lightening leapt towards the smoke.

Ruby's eyes widened. "What are you doing?!"

Pyrrha tried to answer.

But everyone went silent at the clap of thunder.

The lightning vanished.

And a figure stepped out of the smoke.

…

 _What is this?_

Weiss Schnee's eyes scanned over their group.

Those icy blue eyes.

Those eyes, devoid of white, replaced instead by pools of black. There was a darkness to them that made Ruby's own pupils burn in discomfort, stinging painfully even at the sight of them.

She couldn't look away, because they belong to Weiss.

Her skin, already pale, looks as white as snow, as did her hair. Her tiara was missing, and her snowy locks swept down her back wildly, moving as if living wisps.

But it was everything else that froze Ruby's blood in her veins: Black crystals wrapped around her body like some kind of abomination of a dress, extending down her legs, her arms, spreading over her hands and ending in sharp, razor-like claws.

And from her scar, those same crystals etched out across her face, like a marking, a brand.

Ruby recognised all of it. How could she not? She'd seen it in Ozpin's vault not too long ago.

"Black Dust." She hissed, the words like poison on her lips. What was going on? Why was it here? Why was Weiss wearing it like a second skin?

"What the fuck happened to her?" Mercury whispered, and for the life of her, Ruby couldn't answer, what she didn't know, was that the dark, oppressing, horrifying sensations she was feeling now, was coming from her partner.

If that… really even was her partner anymore.

Those eyes weren't human.

The creatur- Weiss looked around, seemingly lost for a moment, before she raised one hand to her face as if appraising it and she let out, a rattling breath.

" **Aaaaahhhh…"**

Oh gods. It- it made her stomach churn, her hairs were standing up on the back of her neck and that sound echoed through her head.

It was like Hazel. Like when he'd went all out in a fight against Qrow the one time they'd crossed paths in the wilds. That… multi-layered voice, like it was overlapping with another. Like she had injected herself with Du-

Oh… o-oh gods. _Oh gods no._

" _Weiss,_ " Ruby whispered. " _You didn't…_ "

Jaune heard her. "What? What is it? What's wrong with Weiss?"

"I-"

The reapers breath caught in her throat as the monster tooks a single step forward.

Those eyes weren't on them. They're on the land around them, the frozen lake that stretched off into the distance.

Those inhuman eyes narrowed and she raised one hand out before her.

The ice moved on her silent command, like a living, breathing thing it rolled and coiled for her.

Weiss inspected it curiously, purposefully, before something on her palm ripples. White Dust sprouts from those blackened crystals. Wind Dust? How on Remnant was Weiss able to make it out of nothing?

Ruby swallowed. That answer was obvious wasn't it.

Weiss really had done it hadn't she?

Cinder crossed her blades over her chest and stepped in front of her. "Ruby get back. Now. She's doing something!"

The half-maiden was proven right a moment later when Weiss raised her arm above her head and realised the Dust into the air.

Dust that flashed to live and blasted upwards like a tunnel of air, towards the heavens and through the storm clouds that Pyrrha had summoned.

They rolled back, parting gently and letting the sun beam down again.

One ray of light washed over Weiss, who let her eyes drift shut.

" **Ah... das ist also die Sonne**."

That voice rippled through Ruby, like nothing she'd ever felt before. It was completely alien but for some reason Ruby knew it. Knew what it was. Somehow.

Why?

Why did she know this feeling?

Why were her eyes burning?

"What is this?" Ren asked, narrowing his eyes cautiously. He was crouched, coiled like a spring. He could feel something too couldn't he? They call could.

Penny was the one who answered. "Analysis. Weiss has relapsed."

The reapers eyes snapped to the android. "Relapsed?"

She nodded. "Affirmative. This event is the stipulation of my creation and her imprisonment. Reports indicate she killed over fifty people like this."

" _What?!"_

"My orders were to put Weiss down if she ever showed signs of returning to this for but…" she shifted. "My scans don't make it seem like I can."

"Well," Cinder barked. "Give us something to work with will you?"

"Weiss Nördlich Schnee; capabilities include sword combat, glyphs, summons, Dust manipulation, Dust infusion and _unknown_. Recent incarceration due to _classified_. Approved by _classified_. Threat level classification: Level six. Consciousness _unclear_. Morality functions _unclear_. Communication capabilities _unclear_. Orders. Monitor subjects condition and execute in the event of relapse. Subject must not escape Meridian tower. Authorisation level Captain for recognised mission. Lethal arsenal authorised. Collateral damage acceptable."

"…Well shit," Roman spat. "You could have brought this up earlier you know that?"

"I'm sorry. I was hoping Weiss wouldn't relapse."

"You're saying relapse like it means something." Emerald growled, on hand clutching her face. "Can't you see that?

"See what?" Nora asked, squinting.

"T-that! Those waves coming off her?"

Ruby frowned, turning to the older girl. "You can see them?"

"Of course I can! Why wouldn't I?"

The reapers eyes flickered to Cinder, who met them in return, then Penny's, and reluctantly, Pyrrha's, who despite herself, nodded back.

Emerald could see the magical energy coming from Weiss? How?

No. No that wasn't important right now.

She had to focus on the matter in front of her. The matter that didn't seem like it had even noticed them yet.

They needed to figure out what to do. Decide how they were going to talk to Weiss and stop her before she got hurt.

The leader of team JNPR clearly had other ideas. "Let's go."

They're moving before Ruby even realises what's happening.

Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, moving like bullets towards her.

Peace clearly isn't on their mind.

Ruby's eyes widened. "Wait stop!"

It's already too late for that by the time she speaks. They're on top of Weiss in seconds, splitting in four, encircling her. Jaune's in the air, roaring as he raised Crocea Mors overhead to deliver a crashing blow at blurring speed.

" **Hm?"**

Ruby's blood ran cold.

Because… because Weiss had just caught Jaune's sword between her thumb and finger.

The same sword that had rattled Ruby's bones with every clash, Weiss was holding like it was nothing more than a toothpick.

At last, Weiss turned her head to them, to Jaune.

She'd noticed them.

" **Oh... I habe auf euch kleine Überbleibsel vergessen."**

She does no more than flex her finger and it sends Jaune tumbling back across the ice.

She took a step forward, and another back when Nora brought Magnhild down where she'd been standing. It smashed through the ice and splashed up water, blocking them from Weiss' view.

A grenade flew through it, exploding against Weiss' chest.

Pink smoke blocking out her vision even more was all it did.

It was enough for Ren and Pyrrha.

They dashed into her space from behind to strike her back.

Ice speared out of the ground before they could, stopping their weapons with a clang.

Weiss turned to them breezily, with the same look she'd given Jaune.

An amused look, nothing more than an eyebrow raised in interest.

Ren rolled to the side and slashed out with stormflower.

The dark heiress raised one hand and blocked his blades with them, the metal screeching across black crystal like it was steel.

She lashed out with a jab that struck Ren's thigh that made him spasm and fall to one knee.

Pyrrha was on her before she could take it further.

The champion raised her shield and bashed it against Weiss' side.

It was blocked by a forearm.

She stabbed out with Miló at the same time. It slipped under her guard and into her side.

It missed.

Somehow, Weiss sidestepped the blow with contemptuous ease and closed a hand around Pyrrha'[s arm. The Mistrilain cried out as she was _hurled_ away and hit the ground painfully.

This time. Weiss didn't advance on them.

Weiss said something as team JNPR got to their feet. Something Ruby couldn't hear from where she was standing.

Whatever it was, it made the four fighters look at each other in confusion.

What frowned at that.

Ruby bit her lip. What was it? What had she said? What had she been saying before? She couldn't understand it. It was some language Ruby hadn't heard before.

No. She had, she had but where?

She couldn't place it.

It was at the back of her mind, something. A word, a tile or something. Oobleck had mentioned it hadn't he? What was it?

Why did she even need to know? Why was it so important?

"We need to stop her." Penny said. "If we don't there is a likelihood that she will kill team JNOR."

"I don't know." Roman said. "They seemed fine dealing with us."

"Weiss is too dangerous right now to leave them too it. If she kills them she could turn to the surrounding populous." Penny's shifted as her arms lit up, glowing with green energy running across her body like lines. "We may not be aiming to kill Weiss, but we still need to subdue her, and quickly."

"Or we could just leave them." Cinder suggested. "The heiress will exhaust herself eventually. JNPR is none of our concern. Leave them to it."

"…No." Ruby shook her head. "We need to help. Damn it. Figure out what's wrong with Weiss and be careful not to hurt her.

The half-maiden sighed. "Fine. I suppose there was no way we were going to avoid it. Let's get this over with shall we?"

Ruby nodded and raised her scythe onto her shoulder.

She took off in a flurry of rose petals straight towards the fighting that had started up again.

Weiss was battling the four members of team JNPR. Except calling it a battle was a lie.

Weiss was dealing with each of them like they were nothing, and each time they attacked, they were repelled with an almost lazy ease.

Ruby wasn't entirely sure what she could do to change that. She doubted she could. Cinder might be able to. So might Emerald if she could get an illusion off.

What she could do however, was give JNPR some space.

Ruby slide across the ice and cleaved at Weiss' side. If they could get her aura down them could force her down

It screeched off Weiss' side as expected. This crystal, this Black Dust, was hard. She knew what it was of course. Ozpin had called it Magic, pure, chaotic magic given physical form.

It might as well have been armour.

Ruby turned on her heel, keeping her momentum across the ice and using the curve of her scythe to spin around Weiss' back.

She twisted her hip and brought Crescent Rose over her shoulder. It sparked against Weiss as she brought up a hand to catch it.

Ruby blurred into rose petals before she could, hopping into the air and planting a foot on partners' chest, kicking off hard to widen the distance between them. Mercury and Neo took her place, assaulting her with a barrage of kicks.

Weiss slapped them aware, though her eyebrow rose higher as she knocked the silver-haired teen's foot away.

She'd felt the metal, Ruby realised. How'd she managed that so fast?

Had Weiss known that before?

Wait… why… why was she thinking of Weiss and the person in front of her as two separate entities?

She didn't have time to think as a shockwave slipped between the two criminals and knocked her back across the ice.

Neo growled at the sight and renewed her attack.

Mercury spun, slamming a heel into Weiss' leg as Neo stabbed out with her parasol.

Both did little more than glance off her.

The heiress blocked each blow faster than she ever should have been able to. Weiss was supposed to be weak, out of practice from her time locked away. She was _not_ meant to be better than all of them together.

And yet here she was.

Weiss fought in a way she hadn't before, in a way Ruby had never seen her do at Beacon.

It was like a warped vision on Yang's style, but without throwing any punches. Instead she used opened palms to knock away their assaults, to throw off their hits.

And that look on her face was _still the same_.

That's when Ruby realised.

 _She was testing them._

Weiss was getting a feel for their moves. She wanted to see them.

Was it the experience? Was that what she wanted?

Why?

The multi-coloured girl ducked under a swipe from the heiress and wrapped a leg around her arm, coiling around it like a snake and kicking out.

Her boot crunched against Weiss' neck, snapping her head back for a moment before she did the same with the other, not letting up she pushed herself upwards and over Weiss' shoulder. She blinked as Neo left her vision and shimmered slightly and actually fell back a step as once again Neo wrapped her legs around her, this time, her throat.

At the same time Mercury barraged the Atlas girl's legs with a flurry of his own kicks.

Each one connected with a crack, metal against magic and shook her legs ever so slightly.

For a moment it looked like they'd actually done something.

Weiss soon corrected that mistake.

With one hand she caught Mercury's foot and pulled, lifting him off the ground and swinging him much the same way she had with Pyrrha. He cried out as he was launched at the ice and bounced off it roughly.

That noise was all the warning Neo got and her eyes widened as Weiss' other hand latched onto her legs.

She likely intended to do the same thing she had to the silver-haired teen.

Which was why she looked surprised when Neo's form shattered like glass and appeared before her.

A blast slammed into her before she could chase and Neo dashed back as the smoke covered the heiress' eyes.

Roman spat on the ice as smoke rose from Melodic Cudgel.

And then Cinder joined the clash.

A stream of fire washed over the heiress, like a wave, blocking her from sight and melting the ice around her, accompanied by bright green beams of light as Penny fired a barrage of energy that pierced through the tornado Ruby raised an arm to shield her face from the heat.

In any other situation, she might have called it overkill, but the feeling wafting off of Weiss convinced her otherwise.

She was proven right a moment later when the flames relented and Weiss stood there with nought but a patch of soot on her shoulder.

She brushed it off like it was nothing

" **Unterhaltsam."**

There it was again. That language that clawed at the inside of Ruby's skull. She grit her teeth. What was it? _What was it?_

The thing that wore Weiss' face frowned once again, having noticed their… lack of a reaction.

 **"Seltsam, ist das nicht die Sprache die ihr sprecht? Hat sie sich etwa schon wieder verändert?"**

Wait a minute. She'd understood something there. 'Changed again' those two words were familiar to her. She'd heard them, no, read them before.

It clicked into place a moment later. It was from Oobleck she'd heard it yes, but she'd heard it somewhere else too. The odyessium!

It was old Atlesian. The ancient version of their language, the one used in Germanic fairy tales!

Changed again… that meant something else though. She was… talking about something. What did that mean? Was it older than that?

 **"Du erkennst es, nicht wahr Wächter?"**

Ruby froze.

She'd felt something, felt something that told her those words were directed straight at her.

She raised her eyes, and met the monsters own. Those orbs of ice in a sea of black that shook her to the core. It terrified her. Instinctually, deep down it scared her. Something inside was telling her to kill that feeling. To destroy it. Erase it from existence.

Something that wasn't her.

But above even that was the fear, because this creature, whatever it was, whatever it had been born from.

Was smiling at her.

A smile.

A friendly smile.

A pleased smile.

A kind smile.

A smile that didn't fit the sight of dark crystals splitting out of her scar and over her face, that didn't fit the robs of crystal, the blackened claws or the power that radiated off her like it was about to drown her.

It was- _I-it was-_

Something wet streaked down her cheeks.

She blinked, dapping a hand against the wet feeling.

Her hand came away red.

Her eyes were _bleeding!_

The creature saw it and blinked, tilting its head to the side and letting out a soft noise. Suddenly, the crushing feeling on Ruby's chest vanished, as if it had been _sucked_ back into the creatures form.

Weiss worked her jaw for a moment, as if in thought.

" **Is this easier for you to understand, is it correct?** "

"Holy shit." Emerald breathed.

Ruby couldn't help but agree.

" **Ah! From your reaction, I'm guessing this is the right language. Good. It would irk me if we could not communicate."**

"What's going on?" Nora growled, team JNPR looked more cautious now, slowly inching their way towards the rest of the group. "What did you do to Weiss?"

" **Weiss?"** The once wearing her face blinked in honest confusion, before a look of understanding crossed her crystallised face. **"Ah the Vessel! Forgive me. It is difficult to hold on to such thoughts when everything is so new to me. This is an experience all in itself. To answer your question child of fables, she is still here, observing from behind these eyes as I once did before. She has not been harmed by me intentionally, yet it may be that my… manifestation has been causing her pain for a while now."**

The creature crossed an arm over her breast and bowed apologetically to them.

" **Let it be known it was not my intention, yet it has been inevitable all the same."**

Ren's eyes scanned her form up and down. She noticed, and smiled indulgently at him.

" **Oh? Is there something you want, Fable?"**

The Mistralian didn't answer for a moment, eyes moving back and forth between her and the other group. "I have a question… if you would answer it." He added carefully. "What are you?"

" **What am I? Well isn't that a bit ill-mannered?"** She said, though by the way it came out as a chuckle, she didn't seem too offended. She raised a hand to her chin, tapping it gently. **"I don't believe there is a word of it in… this tongue. If there is I am unaware of it."**

She hummed. " **Though… perhaps I should be referred to by a same… Yes that would be of use… I was once called** _ **Sinmara**_ **, but you Fables may call me by my old name,** _ **Surtr, if you like**_ **."**

Ruby choked.

" **I would ask you to remember it well."**

They shifted warily, sharking looks with each other. Ruby in particular was shaking. She hadn't said that had she? This creature had called itself Surtr!

That wasn't possible. It couldn't be.

If it was they were in so much more danger that they had thought before. And…

Ruby's eyes flickered to Nora.

She in particular looked uncomfortable, afraid almost, as if she could feel something.

That was more confirmation than she wanted, more than she could deal with right now.

Neither team CRMSN nor JNPR had put down their weapons.

The… Surtr frowned. " **Come now…. There is no need for such hostility. I have no interest in harming you."**

"Reports state otherwise." Penny responded disdainfully. "You have already murdered scores of people."

Surtr blinked in surprise. " **I have? I don't seem to remember any such crimes.** "

"The Atlesian scientists!" she snapped. "Over fifty people dead by your hands, brutally and without mercy!"

" **Oh, those fools,"** The creature actually had the nerve to wave dismissively. **"They were harming my Vessel. I simply eradicated threats to her."**

"What?!" The android gaped. "They were _scientists_ and _doctors_! They were there doing what Weiss had asked! She'd gone in for an operation, they were meant to keep her safe!"

" **My Vessel felt pain. I rectified that and put an end to it."**

"She was being subjected to a Dust implantation! They were there to keep the pain at a minimum!"

A beat, and then Surtr made a noise of understanding, as if she'd just heard some amazing revelation.

" **I see. I was not aware. I will remember that for next time should the event rise. Thank you."**

"That's it?" Emerald stared. "She just shrugs it off like that?"

Seemed like it. Ruby swallowed.

That feeling burned brighter in the back of her head.

"Give her back."

The dark woman blinked and turned to her. **Oh? Ah! You mean the Vessel… yes I see. You are her companion are you not? Her… partner?"** Surtr nodded to herself. **"Very good. I assure you Wächter, my intentions are not to harm her either. They are much the opposite in fact."**

Once again, the woman crossed an arm over her chest and bowed. **"I do wish to have a moment… it has been so long since I was awake last… and not like this."**

Ruby gripped her scythe harder. "What are you talking about?"

" **I simply wish to enforce that I would not break the treaty in such a way."** She smiled. **"The Vessel will be in your hands once again to care for soon."**

That… that was good, wasn't it? Ruby had no idea what this she was talking about, whatever this treaty was, or what she had called her, but she'd said she'd give Weiss back hadn't she? What had she called her, a Vessel? A Vessel for her?

"R-right." She nodded shakily, moving back towards the others. "T-that's good. Just uh… just give me a moment will you?" She didn't wait for a reply, leaving the woman there while she hurried back to semi-safety. She needed to think. All the while, Surtr looked up at the sky, as if bathing in the sunlight.

What exactly was this?

"Well that's definitely something." Cinder mused, genuine interest alight in her eyes as she gazed at the white-haired girl. "Whatever she is, she's powerful, but polite at least."

" _Polite!?_ " Pyrrha hissed, clenching Miló tighter. "She admitted to slaughtering innocent people without so much as blinking and you call her polite?"

The older half-maiden shrugged. "I think it's quite clear that whatever she is, she isn't human. It's clear she doesn't think like any of us who. It's likely she doesn't even consider the moral impacts of it."

Ren narrowed his eyes. "You're saying her thought process could be completely alien?"

"Or at least different to our own." Cinder nodded. "It's not too much of a stretch, nor a difficult conclusion to come to. If she isn't human, she's quite simply a different species. Everything from Vampires to trolls to spirits have different ways of thinking to us, how they see us isn't always flattering."

"You think they see us as unimportant?"

"In the grand scheme of things?" She glanced back at Surtr. "Probably. You just have to look had how apathetic some people are to the lives of Faunus for proof of that."

Jaune let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. "And just when we thought we knew what to do." He turned to Ruby. "I guess fighting's off the table with… her around. We'll call it a temporary truce for now."

"Oh good," Cinder rolled her eyes. "Nice of you to get that over and done with. We had much more important things we were doing before you arrive."

The blond's mouth twitched downwards.

"…Right," Nora coughed. "I guess we just have to figure out what we should do about her."

"Leave her to it?" Emerald suggested. "Didn't she say Weiss would be fine after she uh, had her fill or something?"

"And you believe that?"

"I mean yeah? I think she's telling the truth."

"Seriously?" Mercury grimaced. "Emerald how do _you_ of all people trust something like that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Doesn't sound like you, that's what I mean."

"Would you two like to bicker somewhere else?" Cinder sighed.

"We just wait." Ruby sighed. "Considering she brushed off out hits like they were nothing I don't really want to try my luck. I'm going to… keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't just up and leave with Weiss' body while we try to figure out _what_ exactly she is."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Not enough to be taken seriously… the Odysseum will have to help later."

Jaune blinked. "The what now?"

"God damn it Red," Roman shook his head in an effort to dispel the tension that was slowly trickling away. "Why do you have so many crazy people in your life? First Ozpin, then Cindy and now the Ice Queen's freaking me out. Feels to me like you're just a bad luck charm."

"No that's my uncle," she snipped. "But you're not wrong. We've been dealing with things fine though so far. If working for Ozpin was good for one thing, it was dealing with things like this."

"Doesn't mean it's any less-"

" **What did you just say?"**

They stopped. Practically turning to stone at the feeling that washed over them.

That dread from before had returned, stronger than before.

Slowly, they turned to the source of that dread.

The thing that wore Weiss' face, had twisted it into a look Ruby had never seen on her face before.

Absolute-unadulterated-fury.

" **Ozpin. You…. Serve Ozma?"**

* * *

...

…

* * *

The further they travelled, the further from all signs of civilisation they seemed to travel from. These White Fang paths really did their job, moving them across the continent faster than Yang would have thought possible on foot. It had taken them about two days of walking, but they were pretty far along the way, and with each hour, Yang could pick up more and more clues to where exactly the Branwen Tribe was located.

That specific topic though had brought up some questions.

"So what exactly is the plan here?" Sun asked, pushing through the overgrown leaves and bramble that twisted along the road. "I mean what exactly you aim on doing if we find the tribe."

Yang grinned. "Well that's easy, I've got a list all drawn up in my head: Step one, find the tribe, step two, get into the tribe, three, get a signal out to Ruby somehow so that she can find us, four, ask my Raven some questions and five, punch her in the face."

"Seriously?!"

"Hard," She emphasises. "Really, really hard."

"I mean… is there a specific reason for that las tone?"

"She missed a lot of birthdays."

"Well yeah," Neptune winced. "But uh…. I don't think that would be such a good idea in the middle of a tribe full of deadly killers, do you?"

The blonde shrugged. "I guess we'll find out won't we?"

"Remind me why I listen to things you say again?"

"Because I'm fantastic?"

"Sometimes I wonder."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure you do. Anyway, there's more to it than that obviously, depending on the way she answers my questions I'll have to decide from there, but we have to figure out what we're going to do about Haven."

"Guess that can wait then can't it," Ilia mumbled. "You know, I really don't know much about the Branwen Tribe. Horror stories yeah but that's about it."

"Well you'll be disappointed if you're asking me for more, sad to say I don't know all that much myself."

"But you know some things yeah?"

Yang sighed. "Only what my dad told me. Apparently it wasn't something Raven and my uncle liked to talk about when they were at Beacon. All I know is that they travel all around Anima and are supposed to have some serious power on their side, enough that sending Huntsmen after them hasn't done much."

Ilia waited for more, but when there wasn't any she stared. " _That's it?_ "

Yang looked away. "Pretty much. I mean, there was never much to go on. All I had of her until last year was a photograph. Nothing else. Hel, until mom died I didn't even know she existed, then Ruby left and I didn't have much time to think about her."

"That… okay, I guess that makes sense… sorry for bringing it up."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Yang waved off. "It's not your fault or anything."

"Right." The chameleon relaxed slightly. "So uh, I know you're like sniffing them out or something like that, but how are you actually going to find the Branwen Tribe?"

The brawler laughed. Well I guess just stumbling onto their camp is too much to ask for… so I'm gonna see if I can't find some of them in particular."

"You know any of them?"

"Apart from Raven herself? I'm thinking about this chick called Vernal. She was at the Fall of beacon helped me out a bit." Yang turned a little as she walked. "Hey Blake, you remember her?"

"Huh? W-what?" The Faunus blinked, looking up from her feet. She'd drifted off. She'd been doing that a lot. "S-sorry I wasn't… could you repeat that?"

"I said do you remember what that Vernal girl looked like back a Beacon?"

Blake's eyebrows furrowed. "I… don't remember meeting anyone named Vernal… when was this?"

Yang blinked. "You know… when Beacon was attacked."

Blake looked uncomfortable for a moment, shifting just a small amount. "I don't remember all o much that night… it… it's all sorts of hazy. The only thing I can remember clearly is losing control and…"

She trailed off,

Oh… so she couldn't even remember that?

"Well it was uh," Yang coughed awkwardly. "Right after that. Vernal was helping me carry you away at the time when you… lost it. She got you off me when you bit down."

"…"

Right… well this was great wasn't it? Awkward silences all-round.

"A-anyway," she pressed on. "I'd recognise her if we somehow saw her. I mean, I', not exactly sure how we would, and it's a long shot, but right now it's better than nothing. If any other plan showe3d up I'd take it."

The blonde wasn't one to believe in coincidences in her life anymore, so when Sun stiffened suddenly, she took notice. When the other two Faunus did the same, she did even more so.

"What is it?" She question, looking to her fellow blond. "Do you feel something?"

He nodded rapidly, eyes wide. "Y-yeah, I do. B-but it think the more important thing is that I s-see something."

"See? See what?"

Neptune swallowed, and pointed past her. "You might want to take another look over there Yang."

Yang blinked, offset by their sudden wariness and did just that.

She saw the reason why the instant she did.

In a space that had been unoccupied before, there now stood a woman.

A woman who lit up Yang's senses from the mere sight of her.

Even without her abilities, it was very clear this woman wasn't human.

Her skin was like freshly peeling back, overlapping with deliberation, branches and roots rapped around her form haphazardly, like nature had done so without order. Yang's eyes travelled further up, to locks of literal leaves and vines atop the moments head, and a pale green complexion brought out misty white eyes.

She was also _very_ naked.

" _Dryad!_ " Yang whispered in a hush, her breath suddenly absent for a split second. Behind her, Sun and Neptune tensed, waiting for her move. One Yang wasn't entirely sure of.

Why had this woman appeared so suddenly before them?

She got her answer a moment later when the Dryad bowed.

"Χαιρετίσματα." She spoke softly, like leaves bristling in the breeze.

Yang's brain kicked into gear at the word and she bowed deeply in return. Sun and Neptune relaxed and copied her, and with a slight hesitation, so did Blake and Ilia.

"And to you too," The blonde spoke, eyes flashing flickering red as her mind transformed the words she heard. Old southern Mistralian, Yang noticed. That's where Pyrrha's… oh, of course. "My Name is Yang-"

"Do not inconvenience yourself young Shaman. I know of your blood. That of the Branwen's is strong in you, like ichor." Yang looked up, the Dryads words she could hear clearly – to her at least – and yet, something about her tone through Yang off.

It wasn't disdain, or mistrust, or hatred or fear…

It was respect.

Why?

"Thank you." Yang nodded, straightening up. "You… are a forest Nymph aren't you? I didn't know they inhabited the forests of Anima."

"You are correct, and I have." The green woman smiled, answering both questions. "There is more to it of course, but now, more pressing matters are at hand… at the moment, you reside in my territory."

"… and is that a problem." Yang asked levelly.

She shook her head. "No… it is not. Many passed through here, both during my reign, and my slumber. Some even reside her now… the ones you seek."

"You- there here? Yang took a step forward. "You know where they are?"

"I know the location of everything in my forest." She claimed. "And they are no exception. You are in luck. They are not too far from here… and it is with this knowledge I come to you with a proposition."

The brawler stopped in her tracks suddenly, and she took a moment to remember just what it was she was talking to. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You want to make a deal?"

The Dryad nodded. "I do."

Yang watched her for more of a reaction. She got none. This woman wasn't a human. She could just barely get a reading off her.

It… it was more of a ghostly apparition that a solid being, and yet she knew it was the other way around. There was a soft glow coming from the Dryads skin, otherworldly, faerie-like.

Was she someone Yang should even trust to speak to?

The fact that she wasn't sure was as uncomfortable as a negative response.

She knew it would probably be safer to just walk away. Making deals with creatura like this, this mystical, was a risk.

But… the fact that she knew where Raven was…

It was just too tempting to pass up.

"What is it you want?" Yang asked, trying to sound as if she was still undecided. She wasn't sure whether the Dryad would buy it, but any sort of illusion was better than nothing.

The Nymph however, noticed and smiled. "It would be nothing that could go against your morality, of that I can assure you. I understand that most humans have lines they are not comfortable in crossing. All I ask is that soon, when your task is done, you return here, to aid me with something I wish done."

Yang bit her lip imperiously. "That's it? You want me to… come back here?"

"I do. I assure you, you, nor your companions will come to harm. I am aware of the threat you could pose to my domain should I cross you."

That… was true. To confirm it to herself, Yang raised her obsidian hand and summoned a small ball of fire in her palm. The Dryad eyed it warily, but otherwise gave no reaction.

Fire and forests didn't go well together after all.

"Alright…" Yang said at last, snuffing the flames out, and perceiving with her enhanced vision how the creatura's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly she might have missed it if she wasn't looking for it. "And what exactly are you going to do for me?"

"I will take you to the human Tribe," she said. "And should the need arise, defend you while you are in my home. There are other things I can offer you upon your return."

The Dryads eyes met her own, a knowing look in them. "Such as the knowledge I possess to be used for your own."

"Deal." Yang answered, faster than she otherwise would have and extending a hand.

There it was, that craving that roared to life. For the knowledge she had been hunting for. More of it, as much as she could hoard. It was as if a fire had been lit inside of her. "Keep your end of the bargain and I'll keep mine."

The Dryad bowed, but didn't take her hand. "Thank you, Shaman. I am grateful." She straightened and turned. "Please, Ακολούθησέ με."

Yang watched as she stepped down the path, and took a moment in the sudden peace to watch the Dryad leave.

It was fair to say she was happy to have it work out

She was _especially_ happy with the fact that little Forest Nymphs didn't wear clothes.

She was getting to appreciate that a lot all of a sudden.

"Well?"

Yang snapped out of it a moment later, and turned to Blake, who'd spoken. She had noticed her staring, and didn't look pleased in the least.

Oh? Well wasn't that satisfying?

"What did she say?"

Yang shook those thoughts free… whatever they were.

"I made a deal with her. She agreed to lead us straight to Raven so long as I help her out with something later."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Neptune frowned. "Making promises to a spirit didn't end well for us last time."

"Last time?" Blake snapped. "What do you mean by _last time?_ "

"Doesn't matter," Yang dismissed. "We're fine. Just trust me on this one 'kay?" _'Or don't, It's not like I can trust_ _ **you**_ _anyway.'_ Is what she wanted to say, but knowing that would make things more complicated at the current moment, forced down the sudden flare of anger she felt for Blake once again.

It didn't matter anyway, there were more important things to think about.

Sun sighed, putting his hands behind his head. "Well I guess we better start following her shouldn't we."

She nodded. "Yeah, let's do that."

The group set off again, the Dryad leading them down the path, not mentioning if she'd heard their words. She was likely just a little too far away to hear them clearly.

It was in this silence, that Ilia whispered. "Is it just me or does she look damn fine though?"

The sound of Yang's palm meeting Ilia's echoed through the forest.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Ruby didn't know what exactly had happened.

As soon as they'd mentioned Ozpin, Sinmara – _Surtr_ – had gone from some aloof, smiling figure, and become something entirely different.

Her face was apocalyptic.

" **You serve that tyrant, that despot?"**

Ruby felt that pressure from return tenfold now, so intense, so _palpably_ thick it felt like her bones might snap from the inside-out.

Cinder swore, hands flashing with flames as she summoned her swords. "I think something you said just pissed her off."

"Oh you think?" Ruby hissed back.

" **You!"** She growled savagely, raising one clawed hand to point at the reaper. " **You would break away from your duty to do that monsters bidding and stand before me? To even whisper his name in front of me is the highest insult!"**

A long, thin spark of lightning seared out of her palm, forming a line that she grasped in one hand. It grew, and grew, the sound if glass breaking tore through the air, and Ruby felt heat blast into her face.

 **"But no, no it is more than that. You are from the same ilk as him, the same twisted embrace of deception and lies is around you, and I won't allow it to spread. You shall not hinder me."**

She blinked on instinct as a great light surged and when she opened then again, Surtr held a great, black flaming longsword, nearly as tall as she was.

And she held it in one hand.

" **I will eradicate your very existence traitor!"**

"L-listen," She tried, raising her voice over the noise of glass and taking deep breaths as the sword scaled the air she breathed. "There's some kind of misunderstanding here. We don't need to be enemies or anything. We can just tal-"

" **LIES!"** Sinmara roared. " **That is all Ozma ever did! I will not be fooled by him or his subjects ever again!"**

Ruby feels something crash into her side before she even realises what's going on, and Surtr _blurs_ in front of her.

There's a shimmer of glass, but this time it's Neo's.

The flames lick past Ruby as Neo drags her to the side and she rolls away, rose petals scattering as she uses her speed to stand again and leap back as a shockwave from where Surtr's blade had hit the ground throws everybody back.

Ruby's eyed widened as her attacker blurred again and reappeared in front of her, sword raised to crash down on top of her.

Ruby's feet touch the ground for a millisecond and she pushes off again, dashing back as fast as she can and gritting her teeth hard as the tip of the sword skimmed past her nose.

She makes ground for all of an instant before Sinmara's slicing at her again, not even two feet away.

An arrow knocks the weapon off course and Ruby's eyes flicker over to Cinder. Who even now fires off a stream of black projectiles as she runs.

" **Stop running you wretch!"**

Ruby does no such thing, speeding across the ice as fast as her semblance will allow. Weiss growls, and that ice ripples under her feet before shards spear out of the ground towards the red-caped girl.

Ruby gasped, getting only a second to slice through the ice with her scythe. She doesn't stop though, using the impact the hit managed to transfer to punish herself even further back from Surtr, who doesn't follow only because she's suddenly intercepted by Penny, Pyrrha and Jaune all at once.

The creatures' chasing her down specifically, and the fact she's stalled for even a second makes her growl. She blocks Jaunes sword with one palm, and knocks away Penny's with her own. Faster than either can react she slides her hand down Crocea Mors and closes her grasp around Jaune wrist. There's a flare of Aura as the blond gasps and another as he's suddenly _lifted_ off his feet and used as a weapon that's smashed into Penny. Sending them flying.

Pyrrha cries out for them just as she's forced to hide behind her shield as Surtr lashes out with one foot.

It connects with the metal and sends her to one knee, the power of the maiden just barely keeping her in one spot.

It didn't stop the champion, who spun on her knee and slammed the edge of her shield into Weiss' kneecap, not hurting her, but slowing her down for a second longer as Ren and Nora came in from behind.

Ruby came to a stop finally and shifted her scythe into it's ranged form, firing shots over Pyrrha's back.

All the while, Ruby felt her eyes burn.

Nothing was wrong, with the situation obviously but something else too.

Why could she not get a grip of the woman attacking her.

Her name kept shifting in her head, like she couldn't keep a hold of the identity of the person in front of her.

One minute it was Weiss, then it was Sinmara and another it was Surtr.

It was as if her brain wouldn't let her separate the names into three different people and it was driving her crazy!

She didn't even have them to dwell on it because of what was happening. The fact was, Surtr was _fast_ , Almost as fast as her at full tilt and probably ten times as strong if the what she caught both Pyrrha and Nora's weapons on her sword and threw them back with it.

Again she gets only a single second of peace before more are on her.

Emerald circles her at range, peppering her with bullets as Mercury, Ren and Roman are on her.

Surtr caught the crooks cane and reached for him, only to miss as Roman pulls back and pulls the trigger of his cane point blank at her side.

The hit slides her back on the ice where Mercury is. He sips, kicking out and connecting with her raised forearm. It doesn't stop him and he uses is as leverage to spin _higher_ , over her guard and delivers an axe kick to the top of her head. It hits with a crack as Surtr's Aura flares up from the impact.

Again she growls and twists her body to chop a hand down on Mercury's shin.

There's a clang and a hiss and before the teen can register what happened or even _land_ , Surtr had stepped into his guard and threw a punch that smashed right into his stomach.

His Aura came up to protect him from what could have been a probably crushing blow, and he's sent spiralling to the ground.

She doesn't however, see Ren coming.

The dark haired teen strikes out with a heel that slams into the side of her head and knocks her back a step and she turns to grab at him.

He ducked under it and slashed her waist with Stormflowers blades, backstepping as she swiped at him and followed up with an elbow to her chest.

A look twisted across Surtr's face, one of incredulity as to how Ren was managing to avoid her attacks and counter with his own.

Ruby sees it.

It's a subtle thing, like all things Ren, but it's as if he's fading out. His semblance!

She can see it clearer through her scope, but Surtr's eyes aren't tracking him. She can see him, but for whatever reason it was as if she was staring through him, unable to see exactly react to what he was doing. Like a Grimm would miss him… or a being of magic.

That's it!

"Guys!" Ruby yells to the other members of team JNPR. "She can't sense Ren's attacks coming like she can ours! We can use that to get a proper hit in."

Jaune's eyes flicker to his teammate and nods. "Yeah, I get ya' If that's the came then I've got an idea. Can you get your group to hold Weiss off while we get ready?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Just trust me on this one will you?"

Well it wasn't like she had much choice in the matter.

"Cinder?"

"Already on it!" The woman yelled back, throwing a torrent of fire at Surtr, who cuts through it with her own and glared at the half-maiden.

" **Of course, I recognise the flavouring of this magic now. Even this comes from that man. You are one of those maidens of his."**

Cinder didn't respond with words, but with a hiss and her clothes shone bright with Dust and she pulled at the air.

Shards of glass materialised around them, superheated in the air and sped towards Surtr's exposed back.

She turned and sliced them out of the air with a slash that spit flames.

Penny was under her guard the moment she did, and her hands glowed with green light for an instant before they shot massive beams of light into her stomach, throwing Surtr back.

Ruby turned to team JNPR. "Well?"

Jaune nodded and turned to Pyrrha, who nodded back in return.

Storm clouds rolled in, and Jaune set his hand on Nora's shoulder.

His Aura rose up, bright light surging and washing over Nora's own.

Ruby's eyes widened. "You unlocked your semblance?"

He didn't answer, pouring more and more of, whatever it was, into Nora's own reserves.

The heavens rumbled, and before her eyes, Ruby watched as a bolt of lightning shot down, right on top of the Avatar of Thor.

Nora grinned, as lightning crackled wildly on her muscles as she hunched over, Magnhild prepped behind her back.

Ren kneeled down, closing his eyes and that muteness of colour spread to Nora.

Jaune turned to the resident reaper. "Ruby! Get her in close now!"

She moved in an instant, rose petals engulfing her as she collided with Nora, pulling close in a hurricane of speed.

At the last second Surtr saw them coving and turned to defend herself.

Ruby took her chance, when they were just a few feet away Ruby let go of her Semblance, planning her feet on the ice and _hurling_ Nora like a spear towards her.

Nora roared out a battle cry as she swung the full force of her boosted, lightning enhanced hammer squarely into Surtr.

The force knocked Ruby off her feet and kicked up a cloud of frost from the ice below, which cracked and splinted underfoot.

Neo was at her side in an instant, and before she could gasp she felt the mutes arms around her and pulling her to a safe distance.

And then all was quiet.

"Thanks." Ruby breathed as she got to her feet, keeping her eyes on the cloud that was beginning to fade.

The silence dragged on.

Where was Nora?

She got her answer when it finally cleared.

"Nora!" Ren shouted, and Ruby felt her blood go cold at the sight.

Surtr stood over Nora, sword pushed down hard on the half of Magnhild, a desperate Nora shakily struggling to keep the blade from slitting her throat even as the fires singed her skin.

Dear gods… She was overpowering a supercharged Nora like it was nothing.

Surtr didn't even wait to finish the job though. She kicked out, spiking Nora across the ground towards her teammates and turned to Ruby.

The reaper felt froze stiff as those eyes locked on to her and narrowed.

But Surtr didn't take a step forward.

Why?

A shadow suddenly appearing from above, and her indicts screaming out was all the waring Ruby got, but she took them at their word and threw herself forwards with all her might.

It was a blessing she had, else she would have been crushed by one of Lake Matsu's floating islands.

"What the hel!" she cried as the ice beneath her crumpled and erupted upwards, throwing her into the air.

Rocks rained down from the sky like hail, nearly smashing her head in no matter which direction she dodged. One hit the ice right in front of her and knocked her up.

Ruby flooded her body with as much Aura as she could in an effort to shield herself, and at the same time, focus on the shifting around her.

Her clothes shimmered as they activated.

Cinder's modifications taking effect and for a moment engulfing her form in light.

When it was done, she was in her combat gear and it looked like-

No! Now wasn't the time to start checking her dress!

Ruby sprinted back, ducking and weaving as more and more fell from above.

Faster. Faster. Faster. Her skin was slick with sweat as she pushed her body faster. If she didn't, she'd be crushed. But this wasn't making sense. She should have been out of the range of this- _barrage_. It was almost like it was-

Her eyes widened as an island struck down and was obliterated on the ice. Its debris shot out faster than bullets, and fast _enough_ that that Ruby couldn't react.

A boulder screamed through the air and clipped her side.

It hit her as she landed painfully on the ice again, sliding across it on her side and shooting arcs of pain up her arm, something she should have realised instantly.

Surtr could control the Dust around her, inside her, all around _them_.

She could control the gravity Dust holding up the island!

" **Now then.** "

Came the dual voice.

Ruby choked out a gasp as a dark hand closed around her throat, and a strangled heave as she was _lifted_ into the air, her feet dangling below.

Someone called out her name, but she couldn't hear them. All she could hear was Surtr's voice as she spoke.

Damningly.

" **You don't deserve those eyes.** _ **"**_ She hissed, raising a clawed hand towards them. " **It's time I** _ **removed**_ **them."**

Ruby could focus on nothing but those dark talons, moving closer, _closer_ to her face, to rip her eyes from her sockets.

She coughed, panted and kicked madly, desperately to do anything, _anything_ to stop it.

Surtr didn't so much as budge as Ruby flailed insanely.

Claws getting closer.

Closer

 _Closer!_

Ruby braced for the agony.

…but it never came.

Instead she saw Surtr's arm shiver in place, as if it was frozen. She grit her teeth angrily.

" _ **Well**_ **,"** She sneered furiously, her voice tinged with an effort to push through whatever was holding her. " **It seems this is where my Vessel draws the line… I suppose I should be pleased that she has such a strong will… And yet I am not."**

Those eyes bore into Ruby's own.

" **Be grateful oath breaker, for if it wasn't for her feelings towards you and the damage it would do to our future connection, I would slaughter you all here.** " As if to emphasise her point, she squeezed harder, ever so slightly.

It was enough to make Ruby's windpipe feel as if it was about to become pulp. She'd bit her tongue at some point, and there was blood pooling at the back of her teeth.

It was because of this, that she missed the way Surtr's lips twitched upwards. **"I enjoy your pain, more so than these others… but… there is something else there. These fools, these companions of yours interest me none. They are inconsequential to me…"**

Her smile turned wicked.

" **Now you? Also DU interessierst mich kleines... sehr sogar."**

And then she was gone.

It was like a puppet cut from its strings, Weiss' eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped Ruby, and herself to the ground.

The reaper reached out with one arm, catching her partner from hitting the ground even as she struggled for breath.

The black crystal on her skin, all over her body, shattered into whispers of dark light, and left something else beneath.

Weiss was out cold, and in the silence, the others come to surround them. This time, from how battered and bruised they all were, all pretences of fighting were well and truly gone.

It was Roman who broke it.

"What in the hel was that?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

 **Who knows Roman, Who knows? So, I guess some things happened this chapter, and our gang really has no idea what to do with it right now.**

 **On the other End, Yang might finally get the answers she's been looking for, and with the run in with this Dryad, anything's possible, right?**

 **Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see, all our parties are on Anima proper now, it's just a matter of time.**

 **A little note, Sinmara and Surtr are real names used in a certain tale, and stick with the rule of alluding to colours. All the little characters I've added to flesh out the word do this, Like Mirark. Her last name meant purple. If you can figure out what the others mean, good job, it's a little bit of a clue as to what's going to happen next.**

 **We're still a little ways off what my favourtie bit of this arc is, but when we get there I'll let you know.**

 **Until then, I hpe you have a good week.**


	53. A break in the panic

Weiss' head was killing her.

Out of all the things she woke up to, the throbbing headache she had was the first thing she noticed and it was _bad._ Yang had told her what it was like when she drank too much and woke up the next day, and right now the heiress thought it must have been like this. It didn't help that she had a high pitched ringing in her ears that only now as she groaned was beginning to quieten down.

The noise she made drew the attention of someone.

"Weiss!" a familiar voice cried. "Are you okay?!"

"R-ruby," she heard herself whimper. "Please be quiet… my head feels like it's going to explode."

"O-oh! Sorry." Ruby apologised, her voice lowering to a low whisper.

Weiss took a moment to centre herself, and after a moment opened her eyes. She only managed a squint as a bright light shone into her eyes.

A fire. It was the only light in the night other than the moon, though even that was hidden by dark clouds above. It was a small clearing, beside a pond. They were camping again?

Again? Wait a minute…

Weiss' eyes widened. "Team JNPR!? What happened to-"

"In their own tents." Ruby answered gently, motioning with her head to one side of the camp where tents were lined up and zipped closed tight. "They were all exhausted as the rest of us. Right now I'm the only one up."

"Asleep." She repeated, swallowing. "So… you've managed to… work something out with them?"

"Kind of…" Ruby spoke slowly. "Weiss… you didn't answer before but, are you… okay?"

Why was she asking? No, of course she knew why she was asking, they'd just fought team JNPP and Weiss could barely remember any of it. She couldn't remember how it had ended but her she was waking up with a pumping headache. She must have taken a hit or something. Something must have happened between that.

Speaking of.

"I am but… what are you wearing?"

Ruby blinked and looked down at herself. "Oh, this?"

' _Yes, obviously that'_ Weiss felt like saying, but held it back, instead letting her eyes roam up and down her partners form.

The military looking coat from before was gone, as was her metal bracer and pretty much everything else. All that remained the same was her cloak, something that she doubted would have changed anyway.

Instead, Ruby was dressed all in black, grey and some sort of blood-red crystal pattern. They lined all the way up and down her torso, arms and legs, expanding at the shins and wrists. It kind of looked like Dust actually, weaved into the clothing. To be honest it made Ruby look like some sort of vigilante superhero, bar a mask.

"I guess you could call it my more combat orientated outfit." The younger girl said. "Cinder made it for me. I guess it looks kind of like her own stealth suit but uh, more covered up. You like it?"

The fact that Cinder had made it for her? No. The fact that it looked _good_ on Ruby?

Very much so.

The fact that Weiss could just make out that Ruby was still wearing a corset underneath _filled_ her mind with possibilities.

" **How repugnant.** "

" _Gah_!" Weiss choked, as a lance of pain shot through her head.

"Weiss?" Ruby leaned in, unaware of her thought process or the pain she'd just felt. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-" she didn't know. It had come out of nowhere. Through the throbbing in her head, Weiss' eyes flickered down. "What… what am _I_ wearing?"

Because it definitely wasn't what she'd had on before:

It was a long robe of some kind, tightly wrapped around her body with a strange grey material and a tabard draped across the front and most likely back. There were some strange white symbols on it she didn't understand, and those lines were present of the frills of her sleeves as well.

"I'm not exactly sure." Ruby said. "You… just sort of had them on when everything… calmed down."

"I look like some kind of fantasy mage," she frowned, "Like the ones in those games you and Yang play."

"Heh, I guess so. So you don't know where it came from?"

"Of course not." Weiss scowled, shaking her head. "My guess is that you clearly do however."

"…"

The heiress looked up. "Ruby… those things Jaune said… about you… working for Ozpin. It's more complicated than that I'm sure but… it's true isn't it? You were hiding things from us at Beacon."

Ruby bit her lip. "I… was."

Weiss' felt herself deflate. "You kept… thinks from me."

"I… did."

She swallowed. "And you don't want to tell me anything, even now."

"Weiss it's-" The reaper let out a low growl. "This is more than just school drama or team troubles, this-this is bigger than the White Fang or some terrorists blowing up a school. It's so, so much bigger than that."

"And yet I know none of it." Weiss muttered bitterly. "I'm here, you brought me along, and yet you tell me nothing. I think that's telling, on just how much you trust me."

Ruby's silver eyes shot but dangerously. " _Weiss_." She hissed. "This- you don't know the story."

"Yes," she agreed. "I don't, and who's fault is that?"

"…"

No response, Weiss sighed. What had she been expecting? This was all just too much at the moment. She needed time to think this over, what exactly was happening with-

"I want to tell you."

She stopped.

"What? She blinked, turning back to Ruby.

Her… partner, had a look in her eye, one she couldn't quite place.

"I want to tell you, explain everything. I was planning to but I thought I'd have more time, a better opportunity once we were somewhere where the two of us could just… sit down alone." She growled. "That's not going to work anymore. Especially now?"

"Especially?"

"Weiss." Ruby met her eyes again. "What did you put into your body?"

And at once, Weiss felt her blood run cold. "You… what?"

"What," she repeats. "Did you put in your body? Do you even know what it is? What were you thinking when you made contact with it?"

Weiss felt her eyes widen. "You… you know what it is?"

"…yes."

' **Oh? The Oathbreaker is aware of more than I thought.'**

That blinding pain shot through her again, so suddenly she gasped, clutching the side of her head as that voice echoes through her.

And the memories.

Fully returned.

And she remembered who she'd almost killed.

She remembered how she'd done everything in her will to stop it.

In in the side of her vision, she saw something, something in the pond.

A face.

Her face.

With eyes black as night and orbs of ice.

"I-"

"Ruby."

They two girls jumped at the new voice, and turned to it.

Cinder stood with her arms crossed, and a look on her face Wiess couldn't decipher.

Ruby's eyes flickered. "Cinder… what is it?"

"I need to speak to you. Privately."

"I'm… kind of in the middle of something."

"I am aware. It is in regards to that, and something else. Once we are finished you can explain to the heiress just what exactly the situation is."

Weiss felt her temper flare as she glared up at the older woman. "Excuse me? You can't just dismiss me like that?"

Gold flickered towards her. "And why not?"

"W-what?"

"Why can't I dismiss you? So far, you've been nothing but trouble. You are well aware that I vetoed against you being here. Why are you surprised?"

She had no answer for that.

Ruby sent the older woman a warning look, but eventually, she sighed. "Weiss, give me five minutes. I'll… I'll give you answers after that."

"…Fine." She muttered, turning away and trying to ignore the throbbing that returned to her.

She head Ruby stand, and two pairs of footsteps walk away.

It left her alone.

' **Not alone, never such.'**

" _Stop_!" Weiss ground out. "Stop talking. You- my head feels as if it's about to explode."

A pause.

" **Come closer to the water."**

"No." She growled. "Leave me alone. I want nothing to do with you. No after what you tried to do to Ruby."

" **You mean protect you from a pawn of the Deceiver?"**

The hiss that escaped her was sharp. She wanted nothing more than to dig her fingers into her brain and pull the voice out of her skull. "Protection? That's what you call taking over my body?"

" **An unintentional act on my part,** " The voice told her, a levity in its tone despite how it rocked inside her head. **"I could explain it to you, however as you said, it pains you to hear me. That could stop, if you but approach the water."**

Weiss grit her teeth, but seeing it as her only option to make the pain stop at the moment, crawled over to the pond, right on the edge, close enough to peer down and see her reflection

Or what _should_ have been her reflection.

Her own face looked back at her, but with those eyes, and an expression of calm she didn't wear, she knew this wasn't hers.

It was the same thing she'd seen… in the mirror, when everything broke.

Except now, it looked more solid. More tangible.

Black crystals spread across her skin form her scar.

"What are you?"

" **One moment-"** The creature spoke, and suddenly, it was as if a great pressure had lifted from behind Weiss' eyes. " **Tell me, does it hurt now?"**

No, it didn't, but Weiss didn't really want to confirm it either way. She didn't want to talk to this… thing.

" **I'm assuming by your scowl that it has been rectified. Pardon my mistake, it is difficult restraining my connection to you so early on without a… well, connection."**

"You haven't answered my question." Weiss hissed. "What. Are. You."

" **Hm…"** her reflection, Surtr hummed. **"I know not the term used in your tongue, forgive me, but it is still somewhat new to me and you don't have a term for it within your own mind. In my time, I was one of the Døkkálfar."**

The what?

" **Like I said,"** Surtr smirked, reading her thoughts, or, maybe hearing them. **"You do not have a translation for it within your personal vocabulary."**

Weiss reared back. "You're reading my mind!?"

" **But if course,"** Her reflection said, looking surprised. **"I am within the depth of your soul. You still have a few barriers I cannot pass at the moment that make it difficult to take a look into the complexities of your mind, but as we become more comfortable with each other's presence they shouldn't be an issue."**

Comfortable with each other? She must have been joking.

" **I assure you I am not.** "

"Stop that!" Weiss hissed. "Stop looking into my head!"

" **Considering we share one space, as I said, that is rather difficult. However if you ask for some privacy at times I can try and grant it my Vessel."**

Weiss took a long breath, trying to push down on the anger building in her. "What do you want with me?"

" _ **From**_ **you? Nothing."**

"You can't expect me to believe that."

" **It is the truth,** _ **"**_ Surtr told her, leaning back. It was disorientating, considering there was nothing behind her in the reflection to lean on, yet she did it as if there was. **"All I wish is for your safety, as was agreed upon.** "

Weiss glared at her. "I agreed to nothing with you."

" **You did not, no, but your family did."**

She stilled. "What… what are you talking about?"

" **It was long ago, were you not told as a child?... no, by the look of it you were not. How strange, concerning even. One would think that the Pact would be passed down upon the heirs of the bloodline."**

Weiss felt air pass through her clenched teeth. "Speak sense!" she ordered.

" **It's really rather simple my Vessel. I have but the wish to uphold the Pact, and in doing that, keep you safe from harm. I can see you are confused."** She tutted disappointedly. **"Honestly, to think that the Schnee family would let their inheritance fall into obscurity."**

"You're lying." Weiss growled. "I'd know if something like _you_ existed in our family."

Surtr laughed, _actually laughed_ , and covered her mouth with one hand before smiling at the snow-haired huntress.

" **Come now girl, surely you must have questioned it."**

"I don't-"

" **Did you never wonder why on all of Remnant,** _ **your**_ **Semblance is the only one that is hereditary?"**

For the second time, Weiss went cold.

" **Not to mention all sheer number of uses for it. Physical barriers, gravity and prolusion, Dust manipulation, time dilation,** _ **summoning visions of defeated foes?**_ **Tell me you did not believe all of that to be the work of a single semblance."**

"N-no," Weiss shook her head, not sure if she was answering the creature in front of her or denying it. "You're wrong. You're trying to trick me."

" **I would not lie to you Vessel. I am unlike that Skal of a girl, the one who follows Ozma.** "

The heiress glared.

"Leave Ruby out of this. I won't let you hurt her."

" _ **Vessel…**_ " she sighed, as if she were putting up with a petulant child. Weiss temper spiked.

"You tried to kill her already. I stopped you. I won't let you even get close a second time."

" **You would trust her? After she lied to you?"**

"She hasn't-"

" **Omitting the truth when it affects your life is deceptive. She has kept secrets from you that impact such things. She is a danger to you. A threat."**

"She is my _friend_!"

" **You wish for her to be more than that."**

Weiss recoiled, staring at Surtr in shock. "W-what did you say?"

The apparition rolled her eyes. **"Come now Vessel. I said I share a mind with you, do you think I am not aware of your…** _ **feeling**_ **towards the oathbreaker? You wish to court her."** Surtr made a noise of disgust. **"I do not see the appeal, especially regarding** _ **her**_ **, but it seems you're going through a phase of sorts. Children are always like that."**

"I don't-"

" **Nicholas was the same I suppose, in his own ways."**

Weiss stopped. "You… knew my grandfather?"

" **Of course,"** She smirked. **"How do you think such a man came upon a treasure-trove of Dust that made him rich beyond his imagination?"**

"You spoke to him? He knew about you?"

" **Not in the way you do now, no. I… guided him, in a way."**

"…"

Her reflection chuckled. **"I can sense your turmoil. It must be very overwhelming, to have all of this thrown upon you and for no one to explain it."**

The jab at Ruby was an obvious one, but even as Weiss scowled, there was hesitation. Surtr noticed, and her smile grew.

" **Would you like me to explain it to you?"**

Weiss paused and bit her lip. She looked around. There was no one around to notice her speaking to her reflection. "Explain what?"

" **Everything."**

* * *

…

…

* * *

The sun was setting.

It wasn't a unique thing, the sunset every day. It shouldn't have been something to think about, shouldn't have been something to give pause.

Though, but this high on the mountain top, with the soft winds breeze and last rays of light that spilt past the range onto Mistral, it was a sight that did just that for Adam Taurus.

The red-haired man leaned lazily again the railings of a balcony overlooking the edge of a cliff.

It was funny, he mused, to think that if people knew he was up here, many would hope he'd fall to his death.

He'd thought about it himself, once or twice.

A fleeting idea to be sure, but there, all the same.

Adam let out a breath, watching it fog slightly in the mountain air.

He was curious sometimes, just how many people despised him, spat out his name in curses or loathed his very existence.

There were bound to be many, especially here in Mistral.

The concerning of Haven had been mostly bloodless, but the aftermath, of rising Fauns social status had embittered many. Humans who hated their race to begin with, those who had supported the old – now defunct – council, and even those who might once have been neutral, but had now been pushed to one side over the other.

It was unfortunate that such things were necessary, the fact that they had to take over a place dedicated to defending all races from the Grimm in order to finally push forward, to be taken truly seriously not just as Terrorists, but as a legitimate force to be reckoned with.

Adam has once broached the question in his younger years, what would happen if the White Fang was an actual threat? Would people take their cries for equality seriously? Would they change laws and legislation to appease them? To keep peace?

Ghira has been against it, saying that violence would move them not a single step further to their goals.

Sienna had been interested when it was her turn. When she had become the high leader she had pushed for militancy, for strength and freedom.

She had not pushed far enough. When the true risks came, of taking the chance of finally making themselves legitimate in the eyes of not just Atlas, but the entire world, she had pulled back, content on holding the line and believing that it would be enough to change minds, to win them their futures.

She had been wrong.

Blake, before her betrayal, had seen it. She had agreed with him, that something more had to be done. She had bloodied her hands, alongside him for a chance at a beautiful world where the Faunus would no longer fear subjugation, hatred or oppression.

Adam felt his hands grip the railings a little too hard, and his knuckles were no doubt white under his gloves.

He took a breath, calming his temper.

The pain of her abandonment still stung. It ached at his chest in moments of peace. Twisted his heart in agony.

But not as much as it had.

Looking back on it, he understood why Blake had left.

She was a coward, yes, but she had also been better than him.

She was a good person.

They had both understood that in order to accomplish what no one else would, you had to become a monster.

And good people couldn't co-exist with monsters.

One day too many, one push too far. That had been what it took for Blake to see him for what he had become.

And it had terrified her.

So she ran.

In the beginning, her flight had filled him with rage. A white-hot, blazing rage that lit a spark in his soul.

For revenge.

To make her pay, and all those around her.

He'd wanted to make her suffer, not just for leaving him, but for turning her back on their cause, for the years they'd spent together shedding blood, sweat and tears to chase a dream.

He'd hated her for it, and wanted her to feel retribution.

And then, at Beacon.

He'd seen her.

A poor, sickly creature, on the edges of insanity, grovelling in the dirt, at his feet.

Adam had felt no satisfaction, and that had wrought his fury.

Again she'd taken something from him, the feeling he'd deserved for what she'd done.

She _deserved_ to feel the way she did, and _he_ deserved to revel in it.

Instead, he'd felt only a twisted sort of pity for his old love.

She'd escaped, with the help of that woman in red, and the girl wreathed in flames.

Adam closed his eyes, and took off his mask as he thought back to that girl.

His spies had told him of her name.

Yang Xiao-Long, now known as Yang Branwen.

She was making headway, not only in Vale, but here too in Mistral, as she had been for the last year.

He'd thought of hunting her down, finishing what he'd started with her.

He had decided against it.

She had taken his place, he had seen it. She felt how he had about Blake once before. The girl had been prepared to kill him to protect the woman he had loved once.

It was admirable, in truth, but sad too.

She would know the same feeling he had, of her betrayal. Perhaps she already did.

Was that kinship? Most likely not. They were enemies at the end of the day, and he had no use for sentimentality.

But she was helping.

Hunting down monsters that his own men were incapable of dealing with. She aided Humans yes, as he had expected, but also Faunus, those downtrodden and in need of saving, something his own forces could not provide lest they leave themselves open to attack by the populace that wanted to drive them out.

She was doing good, and staying away from his own plans.

It would likely not last, but for the time being, it was enough for him to leave her be.

He had heard whispers from his men though.

That she had returned recently.

With Blake.

No… he pushed down on that feeling. That heat that built in his chest and told him to rage.

He was past that.

He felt nothing like he had once before.

Blake had moved on, as had he.

She had turned her back on him, and the White Fang, but she had not given up.

If she had, she wouldn't have become a Huntress. She wouldn't have risked her life to fight Grimm, or save people. In her own way, she might have sought to redeem herself. Not to wash her hands of blood, but to make things right and fix her mistakes in a way she knew how.

For that, he had to respect Blake. As much as he didn't want to.

Almost two years since she'd left him, and in that time, both of them had changed. It was clear neither of them were the same people they had once been.

It led to the question though, why was he thinking of her? Now of all times?

It could be because of this… Avatar connection they shared, the one he had learnt about from… the witch.

To think, that even destiny had put them together…

And to think that it was destined to fail from the very beginning, that he would be the villain in her story.

Adam let go of the railing.

It didn't matter. Destiny may have painted him in such light, but it would not do the same to the Faunus.

He had his goal. He was succeeding. He had done what no others had and taken not one, but two Huntsman academies down. And in doing so, lifted the Faunus into the spotlight where their suffering couldn't be ignored. Even if the world viewed the White Fang as evil, they would still have to consider how to prevent such a thing again. That might just mean dealing with the Faunus like people.

And all it had taken was a deal with the devil.

"What do you want?" Adam sighed. He'd heard the footsteps, and though he hadn't turned around, he knew who it was. Adam had a list of people he hated, this man was slowly climbing his way up that list.

"I… was wondering if you had heard the news." Leonardo Lionheart swallowed nervously.

Yes. There were many things Adam hated:

Schnees, Atlas, Ironwood, oppression, lies, hypocrisy, cowards, racism, the list went on.

The headmaster of Haven was a person climbing higher and higher each and every time Adam spoke to him.

He was the embodiment of many of the aforementioned.

He was a coward to be sure, and a liar, and in turning against those he had sworn to protect, and joining those he had sworn to fight, he was a hypocrite.

In the beginning, Adam had held hope for him. A Faunus Headmaster in Mistral, surely something that could make a difference.

But no. He had been nothing but a token gesture, something to quieten down the unruly and let the council carry on with their own machinations.

He had never done anything to deserve his place. He had never done anything to help.

He had been the main reason that the White Fang had conquered Haven so bloodlessly yes, but in doing so, he had just proven to the Bull Faunus how untrustworthy he really was.

He fought for no ideals, no code or future.

He lied and cheated for his own skin, and had stabbed the Huntsmen of Mistral – people that had no doubt been his own students once upon a time – in the back.

When the time came, Adam would put him down, if only to pay a little bit of respect, and give an apology to those wronged by the headmaster.

But not now. For some reason, he still was still of use to… her.

For now, he could live, if only because Adam would not bring the ire of that monster upon himself, nor his people.

Talking to him was still a loathsome activity all the same.

"And what news would that be Lionheart?"

"The- the sightings of ships to the southeast. Reports say it's an army, from Menagerie."

The third High Leader turned to face the headmaster, who looked away at the sight of his face.

Another reason for Adam to hate him.

The man was a Huntsman, and yet he couldn't bear to look at the scars that marred his face? Pathetic.

"I heard." Adam grunted, "What of it?"

"W-well I- I was wondering what your plan was. Are you…Do you… have one?"

Adam's eyes narrowed. "If you're suggesting a path of retreat, I don't have one."

"I wasn't-"

"At the moment, there isn't any need to move, Grimm or Human, both have to deal with a mountain in their path, and we both know this school is something we are not allowed to abandon. Though I question why I should tell you anything."

He knew why.

Both of them did.

Because of the witch.

Adam's hands balled into fists at the thought of her.

Calling her anything else was too much. Destroyer, demon, God. Even her name, Salem, sent chills down his spine and rooted him to the floor.

To think he would side with such a thing. If his own people knew, they might have called him insane.

Perhaps he was.

But it would be even more insane to stand against her.

Adam didn't doubt that she could _and_ would destroy humanity.

But if he could sway her, if only just a little bit to spare the Faunus, he would sink as low as he had to.

The fact that it made him even the tiniest bit similar to Lionheart was sickening.

He scoffed at his own thoughts, turning back to the railings and leaning against them. "All you should concern yourself with is finding what she wants. Have you made any progress on that?"

The headmaster was silent for a moment. "No. The spring maiden's still a mystery… I have told her grace that I have managed to narrow it down to the surrounding regions."

"A lie."

"… it was."

And he thought she had fallen for it.

What a fool.

"You'd best hurry then." He sighed. "If she runs out of patience, you'll bring punishment down on all of us."

The idea filled him with dread. His hands sought out Wilt and Blush instinctually for comfort, yet he didn't have them on him. They were inside, being worked on by a weaponsmith.

"Why else are you here? I know it's not to ask me a single question."

He couldn't see Lionheart's face, but he could hear the trepidation in his voice.

"She… wishes to speak with you. Her grace is waiting in the chamber."

A summons.

So then, something was happening.

Something important.

Without a word to the headmaster, Adam pushed away from the railings, and made his way back inside.

Whatever it was, it was likely to be a path filled with violence.

He would need to speak to his mean, prepare them, their arsenals, and perhaps his own.

He had a feeling there would be blood.

And some of it may well be his.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Blake's eyes darted around their little group as armed strangers stared at them.

They'd made it to the camp.

Yang's faith had been rewarded by the Dryad.

The camp was a semi-permanent thing, with wooden walls as barricades and an actual gate with watchmen.

They'd almost shot them upon appearing, but one look at the green-skinned woman had them yelling orders to someone on the other side and the gates opening for them.

Now they were inside and surrounded by men and women armed to the teeth and positively _radiating_ danger.

These were the members of the Branwen tribe?

Blake was more focused on staying with the others as they made their way through, but even at a glance she could see just how powerful each and every one of them was.

She didn't miss how they all stared at a member of their party.

No, the Dryad like she'd have thought they would. In fact, her appearance seemed normal to them, in fact, after a last farewell to them when they'd entered the camp, the Dryad actually vanished in a swirl of leaves, like she wasn't there to begin with.

No, they were staring at Yang.

They recognised her.

Or, at the very least, knew who she was.

And who her _mother_ was.

"I'm guessing we don't want to start any trouble." Sun muttered, eyeing the weapons each bandit had slung at their waists. Swords, hammers, axes, knives, guns and a dozen and a half other weapons. The fact that they outnumbered the party of six was another factor to be sure.

How many bandits did the Branwen Tribe house exactly?

Blake didn't know, but they were rumoured to be a fearsome fighting force that combatted Huntsmen on a regular basis.

So either way, if a fight broke out, Blake wasn't sure how much she'd be able to do.

They came to an open space of sorts, and in front of them, a tent larger than the others on a slightly raised platform. Torches surrounded them lighting the otherwise dark night. The sky was filled with clouds, the moon hidden behind it.

A woman with short, brown hair, deep blue eyes and a tattoo of some sort of bird rising from flowers on her left, stood at its front with crossed arms.

She recognised her face from somewhere...

Blake narrowed her eyes.

Beacon. She remembered her from Beacon.

So this was Vernal then.

The Bandits closed in around them as they came to a stop.

Yang stepped forward and of course greeting the woman in front of her with the most tactful greeting imaginable.

"Sup."

Vernal sighed.

Blake could sympathise.

"You know, we were expecting you eventually, but right now isn't the best time."

"Yeah?" Yang yawned. "Why not? Don't look to me like you're doing anything all too exciting. What, you needed time to prepare? Set up a little welcoming party of sorts?"

"Something like that… more than you'd think actually." Vernal uncrossed her arms. "The Boss isn't exactly in the best position to talk to you right now."

"…Oh?"

Blake wasn't the only one to notice Yang's change of tone.

The bandits tensed around them.

Vernal's hands fell to her weapons. "Yeah. She will eventually, but not right now."

"You getting' in the way of some good ole mother-deadbeat-mother talk?"

Her eyes hardened. "Yes."

Blake took a breath. "Yang," she whispered. "I don't think this is the best time to start a fight."

"You wouldn't, would you?"

She blinked. "Wha-"

Blake cut herself off as Vernal's head suddenly whipped to the side.

The Faunus felt her cat ears flick up. She could just barely make out a voice from inside the tent, though not the words.

A beat.

Then two.

Before the bandit woman nodded and she took her hands off her blades. The action seemed to calm the rest of the bandits down too.

Yang wasn't convinced yet. "Well? Are we doing this or not?"

Her question was answered as the tent flap slip open.

And Raven Branwen stepped out.

Blake stared.

She…

Was nearly the spitting image of Yang, or, the other way round more logically. The same face structure, the same eye colour and figure. Apart from the hair, which was as black as her name suggested Blake might have actually mistaken her for Yang.

Or she might have, if it wasn't for a few key features.

This woman, Yang's mother, had dark bags under her eyes, like she hadn't slept in days. Her skin was pale, paler than Blake remembered Yang's uncles being. It was dirty, clammy.

Almost looked she was sick.

In fact, by the way she held herself, hunched over slightly and a look of dizziness and nausea, Balke was fairly sure she _was_ sick.

And in pain.

What… had happened to her?

The older woman seemed lost for a moment, before her eyes found the blonde that shared her face.

There was a flash of recognition, and Blake allowed herself to relax a little. It seemed like there wasn't going to be any violence just yet. In fact, Raven spoke, her voice sounding as sickly as she looked, but soft, and full of warmth Blake definitely hadn't expected from a woman who had walked out on her daughter.

"Yang."

And then the blonde moved.

Faster than Blake had been prepared for, faster than any of the hand been.

One moment she had been standing stock-still, staring up at the woman who led the terrifying Branwen Tribe.

The next her fist crashed into her mothers face.

And sent her flying.

* * *

...

 **This chapter is late, and for that, I'm really sorry.**

 **This one was actually really hard to write and I'm not entirely sure why.**

 **It's sort of a... in-between chapter. It needed to be here, but every time I started writing something on it, it was a slog to get through.**

 **Which is sad, because the next bit is something I've wanted to write and get out there for a very, very long time.**

 **Again, sorry for this one being so late.**

 **Hopefully I'll get back on track for the next one.**


	54. The Wolf & The Raven: Part 1

...

The sound Raven's body made as it crashed into the ground was music to Yang's ears.

She hit it _hard_ , the earth beneath her giving way as she carved through it and came to a stop almost like a ragdoll.

Oh yeah, very satisfying.

That did leave some issues though, one being that the camp around them suddenly came alive.

Men and woman yelled out in shock and panic, reaching for their weapons. The woman beside her, Vernal, actually snarled as she made to charge and try and lice her up.

Behind her, Yang's own group formed a circle, ready for things to get nasty.

The brawler's hand, a flame came to life as Ember Celica primed up.

"You coming at me?" she drawled. "How about you all form a line so I can save time beating you down?"

"You bitch," Vernal growled. "You think you can just come into our home and attack us?"

"Yeah actually, that's exactly what I think. So far, you haven't proven me wrong." She smirked nastily. "You wanna start? Bring it."

And then any notion of violence stopped when Raven raised a single hand.

The bandits froze as the dust around Raven cleared.

Slowly, the nevermore queen brought her other hand to her jaw, working it carefully.

"That was a good punch."

"Yeah?" Yang growled. "That's eighteen years' worth of missed birthdays. How about you give me a few more swings to _really_ drive home the message?"

Blake took a step forward. "Yang, stop. This is isn't the place for this. Not… with all of these people around."

Yang didn't even turn to acknowledge the Faunus, but her tone was sharp. "You can shut up. This has nothing to do with you. This is between me and _her._ "

The growls from the bandit tribe surrounding them seemed to disagree.

They hadn't moved however, not since Raven had raised her hand.

Speaking of, Vernal had moved to stand by her side, helping her to her fee.

Yang's eye narrowed. "What's with you anyway? I thought you were supposed to be some big-bad huntress but you couldn't even react in time."

"I'm…" Raven groaned. "Having a bad day."

Honestly, it looked like it. Yang's eyes scanned her… _biological_ mother's form up and down.

She hadn't really been paying attention before her sight had gone red, but looking at her now Yang could see how… pale she looked, and not in a good way.

Her skin was clammy, there were bags under her eyes and her hair was a mess. It looked like she'd been put through the wringer. Had she been fighting recently?

No, that didn't make sense. The other bandits looked fresh.

Raven…

She looked sick.

"Boss," One of the bandits stepped forward, one with longish hair and a revolver. "You're not just gonna take that are you? I mean, she just walked in here and railed you!"

Another groan escaped Raven. "I think I deserved it… not like I could do much about it right now."

A look passed across his face, and his eyes flickered from one Branwen to the other.

Raven noticed and shot him a tried, raised eyebrow. "What? Do you want to fight for my honour here? Against _her?_ "

He winced and took a step back. "I'm not that stupid boss. I know the rules. Nobody touches her."

It was Yang's turn to raise an eyebrow. So they knew about her… Raven had some sort of rule around her, she'd talked about her to the tribe then.

Cute.

The brawler cracked her knuckles. "So, are we getting back to the part where I knock your teeth in?"

"I'd rather you didn't," Raven murmured, leaning her wait on the wooden pillar holding the front of her tent up. "I need those for a number of things, like talking for one."

"Oh yeah?" Yang glared. "And why would I want to hear another word out of your deadbeat mouth?"

"…Well," Raven grimaced. "I guess my reputation isn't the best."

"Tch, you think? Was it the part where you walked out on your only daughter, abandoned your team or never came back that would have screwed that up? Go on, take a guess, hint, it's all of the above."

"…Is that the story you've been told?"

The brawler bared her teeth furiously. "Is this the part where you tell me all that shit's bull? That you're some poor, downtrodden sap who's been wronged by the world."

Raven's hand raised to palm the side of her face, as if she was fighting off some sort of headache. "I… you've pretty much lined out what happened, I know… but it… wasn't for the reasons you think okay? I'm not saying I deserve pity."

"Neither am I."

The huntress's pained face morphed into a scowl. "Look I know I'm a piece of shit, can you at least give me a moment to explain things?"

"You know what? I don't think I will!" Yang stalked forward, right into Raven's face and gripped her collar. The bandits around them were tense once again. "I don't care about _why_ you did it. Just that you did. I need some catharsis, so I'm gonna take my fist and ram it down your-"

Yang' threats cut off as blood splashed onto her face.

For a moment, she froze, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She wasn't in any pain, her aura had been prepped to take a hit from behind and yet it hadn't tanked a blow.

It wasn't her blood.

It was Raven.

Yang's grip slipped in panic as Raven let out a hacking cough. Her form hunched over, stumbling against the beam for support as Vernal moved to hold her up, to keep her from falling.

She kept coughing, and Yang watched wide-eyed as blood sped from her lips.

The sounds she was making were nearly inhuman, it sounded as if her lungs were tearing themselves open as she wretched.

Raven's knees wobbled as she fell to one knee.

Her chest heaved as thick crimson liquid dripped onto the ground.

"W-wha-" Yang's eyes flickered back and forth between Raven and Vernal madly. "What is this? What's going on?!"

The bandit ignored her, preferring to hold Raven steady as she fought to get her breath under control. Her face was pulled tightly into a frown.

Yang's eyes narrowed. Vernal didn't look shocked or scared by the fact that her leader was throwing up her own lungs.

She looked resigned.

Her eyes sought out the rest of the camp, and found that while her own party looked horrified, as they should, the men and women around them… only looked upset, but not worried.

"Someone tell me what the _fuck_ is going on!"

Vernal sneered. "How about you go walk off a-"

" _Vernal_ …"

Her jaw clicked shit of a second before she turned to her leader. "But- Raven, you can't actually tell us you're going to give in to her threats when she treats you like- like this!" she waved a hand in Yang's direction. "She can't be allowed to walk in here and disrespect us!"

"She already has." Raven groaned, struggling to her feet. "And that's my fault. If I had done something sooner or just… I don't matter. It's my fault this is happening anyway…"

Raven's tired eyes found Yang's

Red on red.

One, confused and furious. The other exhausted and suffering.

"You need to calm down, at least for five minutes. You might be my daughter, but I can't let you act this way in the tribe."

"Doesn't look like you can stop me." Yang rumbled. "What, with you spittin' up your own blood."

"Even like this Yang, if I was serious, you wouldn't stand a chance."

The younger Branwen didn't respond.

Raven turned to her second. "Vernal, get things ready for tonight… this might take a while, so… if I'm not finished by the time the sun goes down you need to come and get me."

"Yes ma'am."

She sighed. "I'll admit this went slightly better in my head but…" she turned back to Yang. "You turned it down before but… I _do_ want to give you answers."

The blonde's face twisted angrily for a moment fighting some burning feeling in her chest before she let out a breath. Ember Celica retracted and she crossed her arm. "Fine. I'll listen for as long as you don't try and bullshit me, but if I don't like what I hear, I'm going back to making you pay the old-fashioned way."

"Fair enough… come into the tent. We… can talk there." Raven's eye flickered over Yang's shoulder.

To Blake. "You, you're coming too."

The Faunus nearly jumped. "W-what?"

"I said get in here, don't ask questions."

With that Raven turned, hobbling into her tent and letting the flaps close behind her.

Blake swallowed, turning to the others.

Ilia sent her helpless look, while Sun and Neptune looked more than a little on edge. She could tell why.

Yang was _not_ happy with Raven's decision to invite her to what Blake knew would be a… personal talk, and had practically stormed into the tent.

Vernal sighed when she saw the Faunus' trepidation. "Just get in there, kid. This is going to be enough of a headache without you pussyfooting around things. Raven's orders are absolute. You don't go in, I'll _toss_ you in." With that, she turned to the other tribesmen. "Oi Brook, Shay, get the collar, the rest of you, gather up the chains and get to the clearing, clean out any Grimm that might be there!"

Well, that wasn't much help to Blake, but with no other idea, and, being sort of surrounded by bandits, she took the amnesty for what it was, following the other two women into the tent.

She met Yang's scowl a soon as she did so.

"So?" the blonde grunted. "Are you going to talk or what?"

Raven waved a hand. "In a minute… let me just… would you like some tea?"

Yang crossed her arms.

"I'm guessing that's a no?" Raven glanced tiredly Blake's way. "What about you? Are you a tea drinker?"

The Faunus swallowed. "I um… I'm sorry but, I don't think I should be here for something so personal."

"Is that a no on the tea as well? You know what? I'm having tea, I'll leave the stuff on the table if you change your mind. Go on, sit down."

For a moment, neither of them did, but eventually Yang made a noise of annoyance and moved to drop onto the mat.

Hesitantly, Blake did the same.

She didn't point out how obvious it was that Yang had put plenty of space between them.

"Good," Raven coughed, setting a teapot down on the table and letting out a small groan as she sat herself down. "Now we can start."

Yang didn't seem to agree. "Why is she here for this?"

"Huh?"

" _Why_ ," she repeated, pointing at the Faunus. "is _she_ here for this?"

The bandit raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't she be? Even disregarding everything else, this sort of thing I think partners should share, I did with Summer."

Yang's teeth ground together. "She is _not_ my partner!"

Raven's eye flickered.

Blake's face fell. That… hurt. She wasn't… entirely sure why. They were… only words, she knew that logically Yang had made her feelings clear, how she felt about her wasn't positive. They'd been separated almost for as long as they'd _been_ partners anyway.

Still. Even I Yang had said already that they were done… It hurt to actually hear it like this.

Raven frowned. "Not sure I agree. I can't say I know how you feel Yang, but even I can tell the girl means something to you."

 _Wait, what?_

"Why do you even care!" the brawler snapped. "Why have you got an interest in _her_ all of a sudden?"

Raven's response was dry. "Because I want to get a measure of the kind of person my daughter's been with."

Yang blinked as Blake stiffened. "I- what?"

She rolled her eyes. "I can _smell_ her scent off of you Yang. Clear as day. It's not hard to tell where _that_ came from. My guess is that she can still smell herself on you too."

Yang recoiled in shock and her head whipped around suddenly to Blake. "Did you know about this?!"

"N-no!" Blake defended. "I- I didn't!"

"You did." Raven dismissed. "Maybe not consciously, actually no that I think about it you probably got so used to it with all the time you spent together that you forgot about it, but anyone who hadn't met you two together, say, your parents, would have gotten one whiff of you and known the deal. Or, at least caught an inkling."

Blake wasn't able to keep the mortification that she felt off of her face. Yang, in turn, looked horrified. "You mean I walked around Menagerie with a fucking sign above my head about-"

"How you slept with her?" a flash of emotion Blake couldn't trace passed over Raven's face. "Probably not. They'd have had to have known her personally for that beforehand. Her parents though? As soon as you showed up they would have recognised the new smell that came from their own daughter. It was probably the same for Taurus as well."

"What about _you?_ " Yang snarled suddenly. "We're not- we're not like that, not anymore! How- how do you have any clue about this?"

Raven took a slow sip of her tea. "That's… complicated, part of the story, but even without that I have eyes. You don't think your own mother wouldn't know about who you were with?"

"Don't you dare!" Yang growled. "You don't get to call yourself that, not in front of me. _Summer_ was my mom. All you did was spit me out and run off like a cowardly bitch!"

"… not inaccurate actually."

"Huh?"

Raven shook her head. "You think I'm scum, I know that, and if I'm honest, I agree with you, but… at least let me give you my side of the story first. Both of you, whatever _thing_ there is going on between you, you're on the same side. However you feel shouldn't affect how you fight when your life is on the line or when things like _this_ come up."

Yang grimaced as if the idea physically repulsed her, but she did look at Blake. Hesitantly, the Faunus did the same. A look passed over the blondes face.

In that way, it was easy to see how the two of them were related. They had the same tells, and both were just as hard to read.

Yang hadn't always been like that though. Not at Beacon.

That was another thing that hurt.

How had Yang changed so much in less than a single year? How was she so… different towards her?

It was as if she was a different person.

"Both of you should hear this because like it or not Yang, the two of you are going to be working together and… honestly I think you need someone to calm you down."

The sound Yang made was some mix between a scoff and a laugh. "And you think _Blake_ is that someone? Have you not been paying attention?"

"I have," Raven hummed knowingly. "And that's why I'm positive she's the one."

"…what are you-"

Yang was cut off as Raven suddenly erupted into a coughing fit again, the older woman, covering her mouth as she struggled for breath.

Yang and Blake watched uncomfortably as her shoulders heaved, and when she pulled away, her hand was stained red.

"We… should start this story already."

"…Yeah," Yang agreed. "I think we should."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Raven yawned as she opened her bleary eyes.

Her body felts stiff, unused.

She'd… what had she been doing?

And why did her arms feel so numb?

A gurgling sound right beneath her chin gave her those answers and she looked down into bright lavender eyes and a chubby looking face.

"Sorry about that runt," Raven yawned again. "Guess I fell asleep. You okay?"

Another gurgling sound, so was the vocabulary range of a seven-month-old baby.

"Heh," Raven chuckled. "Course you are." She leaned back into the couch. Right, that was it. She'd been stilling watching TV with Yang while she waited for the others to come back.

They'd all gone out and taken a mission together.

And left her here.

Sure she was still technically on maternal leave but she was a huntress! Sitting around wasn't her style. If she stayed out of the action too long she'd get rusty, and nobody had use for a rusty huntsman.

"Tch!" she scoffed, looking back down again at the baby cradled in her arms. "You know, you're lucky I'm such a great mom, or I'd totally ditch you to go out on a mission right now."

Yang must have found what she said hilarious, because she giggled lie she'd told the funniest joke in the world.

Damn it. Must. Resist. The urge. To cuddle.

It would ruin her cred if she was caught by Qrow doing something like that.

Or worse, by Summer.

She'd never see an end to the photos.

Yang tilted ever so slightly, wide eyes looking up at her mother.

Raven's defences were obliterated in an instant.

"Come here you!"

Her daughter giggled madly as she stuck the tips of her fingers underneath her neck and tickled.

Gently, not enough to hurt.

Never enough to hurt.

Raven grinned as her daughter wiggled in her grip, seemingly content to endure the tickle torture. In the action, her bushy blonde hair came free, splayed out across Raven's arms.

It was coming along impressively.

It was a little strange that Yang was blonde, all things considered, but Raven guess that it was probably because for some reason those Xiao-Long genes were stupidly strong.

Tai was _really_ blond after all.

Not that it bothered her. She'd imagined in her head a daughter with wild black hair all the while she'd been pregnant, but this was so much better. Yang was completely untouched by the Branwen tribe, a miracle all things considered.

Yang was perfect. Absolutely, positively perfect, better than anything she could have imagined.

And she was so _squishy!_

"You know I'm almost gonna be sad when you get older," Raven whispered into Yang's ear. "When you're finally old enough to train all that chub is going to be gone. You should stay like this, all cute and jiggly. It's a crime!"

Yang's giggling was almost definitely agreement.

Another yawn escaped the huntress suddenly.

"I must be getting lazy. I'm pretty much living a life of luxury here, I'm going to be going through the wringer when things go back to normal."

Raven hadn't planned how that would work yet, she'd have to ask Tai what the scheduling would be looking after Yang, no way she was going to leave her with some nanny, or worse, Qrow.

Her girl would be scared for life if that was to happen.

Speaking of, a tingle in the back of her neck let her know that her team was close by.

She grinned down at Yang, bouncing her slightly in her arms as she lifted herself into a better position on the couch. "Guess who's back!"

The next moment, the front door opened and three signatures pinged in her head, the signals bouncing around energetically.

Good, none of them had been hurt.

"Oi Rae!" Her brother called. "We're home."

She rolled her eyes, leaning back to tilt her head over the back of the couch, gazing at him upside down from her spot. "I know Qrow, I'm right here."

"Oh! Shi-" He blinked, pausing slightly when she sent him a warning glare. "Crud," He corrected himself. "Sorry, is the little squirt asleep?"

"No, at least I don't think so. I was though, woke up literally five minutes ago."

"Oh cool," he grinned, walking to plot down on the couch beside her and poking at Yang's back playfully. The little blondie giggled yet again. "So did you miss us?"

"Hah! You? Not a chance."

"Ouch, cold Rae."

Yeah, yeah, where are the other two punks."

Another voice came from the doorway. "Uh, one of these punks is your husband – the love of your life – and is currently carrying groceries."

"Really?" Raven fiend surprise. "Hey Sum, when did we get married? And when did you change parts down there?"

"Har, har." Her husband responded flatly, moving past with a stack of bags in his arms and into the kitchen.

"You guys made a stop before coming back?"

"Just into town." Her brother shrugged. "We had a good run this week,, Sum decided we were going to celebrate it with a big feast for the five of us."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Something happen on your mission?"

He shook his head. "My lips are sealed. Summer said she wanted to be the one to tell you the story. She's still pretty pumped about it."

"Yeah?" the older twin laughed. "Where is the scatterbrain anyway?"

"Here!" a cheery voice sounded as a pair of arms draped over Raven's shoulders and a weight leaned against her gently. "And don't call me scatter-brained, I thought we dropped that nickname in second year?"

"I've decided to bring it back for nostalgia's sake." Raven hummed, tilting her head to peer back into silver eyes and match her team leaders wide grin with her own. "Good to see you Summer."

"What? It was only a week." Summer laughed, resting her chin on Raven's shoulder as she let Yang wrap her hands around one of her fingers. "Did you miss me that badly?"

"Yes!" She groaned. "I'm going stir crazy here Sum! I need you goofballs to entertain me."

"Oi!" Qrow cried in mock offence, Summer just shook her head.

"Well don't worry Rae, you're spectacular partner's back and ready to keep you entertained!"

"Good, then you can start by being the great auntie Summer you are and taking Yang for a minute."

"H-hey!" Her partner squeaked as she handed her daughter to her. The silver eyed warrior dipped slightly as she worked to get the proper hold on the baby and shot Raven a desperate look. "Come on Rae don't do this to me!"

Raven rolled her eyes and smiled as she got up, turning her back as Summer quickly took her place on the couch. "You're going to have to get over your fear of babies sooner rather than later Sum!"

"I'm not afraid of babies!" her partner cried back. "I just can't hold them!"

"You're doing fine right now!"

"Anything could go wrong, what if I drop her? Qrow's here!"

"Hey! Why am I always the one who gets thrown under the bus?!"

Raven chuckled and tuned out their bickering as she stepped into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her husband's back. "I heard you've got a story to tell."

She felt the vibrations in Taiyangs back as he laughed. "Yep, and you've heard how Sum's ordered us to not spoil it."

"Oh it must be a good one then."

"You'll get nothing from me!"

"Oh really?" she smirked, squeezing tighter and letting her hands trail over Tai's abs. "You sure I can't convince you to spill a few secrets?"

"No you can't!" Summer's voice called out from the living room. "Don't try it feathers, try handling one child before you go making another one."

"Ugh!" Raven spluttered, glaring back through the doorframe. "I can't even see you! How do you know what we're doing?!"

"I always know!"

Taiyang just laughed, and turned to pull Raven in for a quick kiss.

She hummed, accepting it gladly. It only lasted for a few seconds, and when they pulled away, Raven wasn't entirely satisfied. "It's a start. You can finish the rest later."

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Yes ma'am. You should probably get back in there before something _does_ happen and our little girl is corrupted by Qrow."

She laughed. "He lives here, sad to say it'll happen sooner or later."

"I'm hoping Summer will be the balancing force."

"Well you can live in hope then, Summer's already been corrupted."

"Darn, I knew having a Branwen as a partner changed her honest soul."

Raven hand fell to her hip as she smirked. "Oh really? I think she turned out all right, if anything, I should be worried about you dear husband, you and my little brother together is a recipe for bad news."

"What makes you say that?"

"Entire team?"

"Oh come on!" he groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. "Do we have to bring up jokes from graduation?"

"I don't know." Raven shrugged. "I'm just feeling like it's throwback season right now, must be all this pent up energy I've got. You'll have to do something about that _later_."

"Raven! No!"

"Summer seriously!? Are you sure your semblance isn't super hearing?"

"The magnificent leader of team STRQ knows all!"

"The magnificent leader is about to get her butt kicked!"

Laugher echoed through the door. "You can't scare me when you censor yourself Rae."

"It's called being a responsible parent you brat!" Raven yelled as she stormed back into the living room. "And who said I needed to be scary to see it through?"

"Eep!" seeing the wrath of Raven coming for her, Summer handed the giggling child over to Qrow and leapt off the couch in a desperate escape.

The younger Branwen watched as her sister tackled their leader to the ground, and raised Yang so she could get a better look.

"Take a look firecracker, this is what you'll be dealing with for the rest of your life. Oh yeah, team STRQ is going to mess you up."

Yang's laugh seemed to say she was excited for that possibility.

* * *

…

…

* * *

About two hours later, the four members of Team STRQ plus a baby in a highchair sat around the dinner table, laughter filling the room as Summer recounted the tale of their latest mission to Raven.

"How!" Raven choked out through her mirth. "How do you even manage to set _four_ criminal families against each other and then _somehow_ get them all to suddenly unite against you while Grimm are attacking the walls?"

"Eh," Summer waved it off. "I wanted to blame Qrow."

"Oh no you don't," the younger Branwen smirked. "My Semblance may suck, but even it's not as bad as you with several pounds of explosives Sum."

"It was my backup ammunition! It wasn't _meant_ to explode."

Qrow grinned, leaning over the table as he did so he could get right in his leaders pouting face. "And yet, it did, and all of a sudden you manage to get families that had declared blood feuds against each other to drop all of it you make you pay."

"Well I mean," Tai laughed. "Cooperation is a part of a Huntsman's job right? It still technically counts if we manage it for the bad guys too doesn't it?"

"Shut _uuuuup_! Summer whined dejectedly.

"She's right boys, no more talk about the crims."

"Yes! Rae coming to my rescue!"

"Besides, I want to hear about how she managed to drop a goliath on top of the town hall."

"My partner has abandoned me!"

Raven rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep the grin off her face. "Seriously Summer, _how?_ "

The silver eyed warrior would not be discouraged and held her head high. "I blame the construction workers shady management practice, there was _no_ reason to have a public office in the path of a giant lumbering Grimm."

"And I'm sure the Grimm wasn't led by you over there accidentally."

"Thank you for your confidence in me."

"So," Raven raised an eyebrow her brother's way. "You guys have to pay for collateral?"

"Nope." Tai said. "Oz got in touch and offered to pay off the damages."

"Really?" she blinked. "That was cool of the old guy. Did he tell you why he did that, you know, again?"

"Why do you think?" Summer grinned. "Team STRQ is obviously his favourite team."

"Uh-huh." Raven nodded sarcastically. "And I'm sure he _loves_ us after reading all the collateral damage reports he gets from you guys."

"Really Rae?" her brother stared. "You're not free from the messes we make you know."

The Branwen twin flicked her hair back as she smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a responsible mother now, I don't have time to break buildings and cause rampant public disorder."

"Wouldn't that mean Tai would be just as responsible?"

"No because he's Tai," she said. "And thus, a massive doofus."

"Hey!" her husband yelped. "How is that fair? What happened to couple's solidarity?"

"Are you telling me I'm wrong? You're a total doofus, right Yang?"

The toddler raised a chubby fist in agreement.

Summer, as expected, nearly had an aneurysm from the cuteness, as did Qrow, though he did a whole lot better job at hiding it, having resolved ages ago to build his rep as the 'cool' uncle.

Taiyang just stared. "Just… what? Did you teach her that?"

Raven smiled proudly. "Yep! Yang and I had plenty of downtime to learn a few tricks."

"You _weaponised_ our daughter against me?!"

"The strong must use all advantages at their disposal! Yang will be my greatest weapon! Right Yang?"

Again, the toddler raised a fist high into the hair in agreement, before it flopped back down and she dug back into her food.

Taiyang shook his head and smiled. "What else did I expect?"

Raven threw back her head. "Just you wait, Yang's going to be the best you've ever seen."

"At what exactly?"

"Doesn't matter, she'll just be the best. Period."

"Probably, knowing how much you'll put her through the grinder," Qrow hummed. "You gonna use the ol'Branwen training method?"

"What, hit her until she learns to dodge? Not a chance. I'd rather not have _any_ part of the tribe in Yang."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's fair. I was thinking of saying something before, but then I decided I didn't need to. Glad you agreed."

Raven yawned. "Yeah, We can use the city folk method of raising kids, we'll be fine, especially with the two of you are here to help. I mean, provided Sum don't shack up with someone first."

"Eh?"

The silver eyed warrior blinked as three pairs of faces turned her way, and, Yang seeing the grownups all doing it, decided to copy them.

"Hey, hey, hey wait a minute." Summer gulped. "What's this collusion?"

"Come on Sum," Raven smiled. "I've been asking for years. When are you going to finally go out with someone? I don't even remember the last time you _went_ on a date."

"Second year." Qrow supplied helpfully. "With you, at the movies in downtown Vale, yikes, maybe that's the reason she hasn't dated anyone. You probably turned her off romance Rae."

"Ah shut up Qrow." She grumbled, there was a pause. "I didn't, did I?"

"No Rae, you didn't." Summer rolled her eyes. "Romance just isn't my thing. I'm not really interested in that sort of stuff."

"You positive? I could share Tai with you if you wanted to be sure?"

"W-what?!"

"Rae are you serious?!"

"No." Raven narrowed her eyes menacingly. "That was a joke oh dearly beloved husband of mine. Don't sound so excited."

"I-I wasn't!"

"Good, if anyone's getting Summer into bed, it's going to be me."

" _Raven!_ "

The older Branwen couldn't help how she burst out laughing, and it only rose to even greater volumes as Summer pelted her side, red-faced and mortified.

Yeah, this was the good life, something Raven hadn't ever even thought possible.

It was perfect.

"Seriously though," she grinned once Summer had calmed down. "If you do find someone, you need to let me vet them fist, and interview them, and test them for any deseas-"

"I get it Rae!" Her partner groaned.

She blinked suddenly, reaching into her pocket and fishing out her scroll.

"Hello?"

"Who is it?" Qrow whispered, only to be shushed by Taiyang.

"Uh-uh." Summer murmured, her face pinched in concentration. "That's fine. Yeah… yes I'll be there as soon as I can."

The scroll beeped as she hung up. "It was Ozpin." She let her three curious teammates know. "He wants to talk to me, asked if I could head straight over to Beacon now."

"What for?"

She shrugged. "Dunno, he sounded serious though."

"You want me to come with you?" Raven offered. "I could fly over there and open a portal to save time."

Her leader just shook her head and smiled. "Nah it's fine. I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be back soon anyway. Keep a light on for me yeah?"

She nodded. "Sure, say hi to the old man for us alright?"

The boys waved her off, and a minute later, she'd taken her cloak and headed out.

Raven turned back to them. "So what do you two want to do?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

Of all the things to wake Raven up, a dry throat was one of the most annoying ones.

All the same, that was what it was, and she sighed as her eyes fluttered open in the dark and she stared at the ceiling. Beside her, Tai was asleep, one arm over her and pulling her close. At the foot of the bed was a cot, Yang sleeping soundly in it.

With a sigh at the effort, Raven carefully squirmed her way out of her husband's hold and slipped out of bed.

She shivered slightly at the chilly air. In a nightshirt and shorts, her bare feet were exposed to the cold wooden cold.

She snuck downstairs, into the kitchen and reached for a glass.

Raven yawned blearily, laying against the kitchen counter as she flicked the tap on and took a long gulp of water.

And then her Semblance pinged.

Raven only had time to blink as the back door connected to the kitchen burst open, and Summer stumbled in.

The silver eyed warrior went right past her, practically falling against the kitchen table and sagged. Her breath was laboured and her clothes wet.

And one hand was stained red with blood.

"Holy shit Summer!" Raven hissed, dashing to her side.

Her partner jumped. "Rae? Oh… sorry. I... didn't mean to wake you. my bad."

"I was already awake you idiot." Raven scowled. "Come here, now."

Whether it was because she was fine with it, or because she was too weak to resist, Summer allowed Raven to lead her to the living room and set her on the couch. The silver eyed woman let out a breath, leaning back tiredly as Raven knelt down and searched for the source of the blood.

"My side." Summer supplied. "It's not deep but… it stings."

Raven nodded, moving her partner's hands away to get a better look. When she did, she hissed through her teeth.

Claw marks.

Three, gnarly claw marks just above her waist. They'd torn through her clothes and into flesh. Which meant that Summer had run out of Aura.

She'd been fighting.

And judging from the marks…

"Why were you fighting Beowolves?" Raven questioned as she hurried back and forth, taking a first aid kit from under the stairs.

"I was… on a mission."

"You were _what?!"_

"For Oz," Summer breathed, biting back a groan as Raven began swabbing at her wound. "He wanted me to look into something down south of Vale. It got a little… hectic."

"That's one word for it. Sum I know you. A few Grimm wouldn't be enough to even make you sweat. What happened?"

Nothing. She looked up, only to see her partner avert her eyes.

Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Summer…"

"…I had a run in… with one of Salem's."

And just like that Raven felt her blood run cold. "Did they-"

"They're dead. I made sure of it… but they got a lot of good hits in, enough that I wasn't ready for the Grimm. I managed, obviously but uh… got this."

Raven was silent. The information racing through her head. The fact was, if Summer had run into one of Salem's goons, it was because Ozpin had sent her on a mission directly linked to their movements.

He's sent her in alone.

And she'd gotten hurt.

"I'm going to go talk to Oz."

"Wait, Raven don't."

"Don't try it Sum," she warned. "He sent you out somewhere dangerous without telling us. _You_ didn't tell us."

"I-I know." She whimpered miserably. "And I'm sorry, just, _please_ don't be mad at him."

And just like that Raven's shoulders sagged. "I'm not going to get mad at him Sum, but he still has some explaining to do. I'll go talk to him and… see what I can do."

"What do I tell Tai then?"

She rolled her eyes. "I dunno, tell him I went out for cigarettes or something."

"You don't smoke Rae."

"It was a _joke_ Sum."

"Oh, right, sorry. I uh… think I need a rest if I'm not catching your humour."

She nodded. "You do that. Don't worry about it, I'll fly over and be back soon."

"Alright… bye Rae."

"You too."

A few minutes later after changing stealthily into her combat gear, Raven slipped out of her house and transformed, spreading her wings as she flew high into the air, over Patch, across the sea and towards the city lights of Vale.

It didn't take too long to get to Beacon, but when she did, the moon was high in the sky.

She came to a stop in the courtyard, transforming back into her human form without worry.

Beacon was full of students, but if they weren't idiots, they wouldn't try and bring Glynda' wrath and break curfew.

It worked for her either way, and made it all the easier to walk up to her destination.

Ozpins tower.

One elevator ride later, the doors opened, and she was greeted with the sight of the Headmaster and his deputy.

Glynda blinked in surprise when she saw her.

"Raven!"

The woman in question smiled. "Hey Glynda. Good to see you."

"Likewise," The usually terrifying woman said. "How are you. I don't believe we've spoken since your pregnancy ended."

"I'm good, doing great actually. A little bored with no missions but Yang's keeping me all the busier for it."

"I can imagine."

"How is the young Xiao-Long?" came the voice from behind the deputy.

Raven peeked over Glynda's shoulder and grinned. "Amazing. Little ball of energy and so goddamn giggly."

The headmaster chuckled. "Sounds exciting. Let's hope that energy lasts, I would like to see her here at Beacon."

"Slow down there Oz," Raven rolled her eyed good-naturedly, strolling up and taking a seat at the other side of his desk. "I'd like to savour my time. Seventeen years is a long way off."

"Yes, of course, my apologies." He said with that grandfatherly smile of his. "Sometimes I get a bit ahead of myself. Such a time isn't all too much when you've lived as long as I have."

"Yeah I get it, it's fine." She waved off. "Actually uh, there was something I wanted to talk to you about. With Summer."

At once, the headmaster got the hint. His eyebrows furrowed as Glynda perked up. "Is Miss Rose alright?"

Raven sighed, leaning back into her chair. "She is, I wouldn't be all calm if she'd been seriously hurt but… Oz, she ran into some trouble."

He sighed. "I guessed. That could be her only reason for going straight home instead of reporting to me. Worrying, I must say. How badly was she hurt may I ask?"

"Lost her aura, took a light slash to her side. She'll get better, but it could have been worse." She bit her lip. "Oz, she ran into one of Salem's"

 _That_ was what got Ozpin serious. "Glynda," he spoke in a level tone. "Can you give Raven and I a moment. Make sure that there are none who might accidentally walk in on us."

"Understood." The headmistress nodded, before looking Raven's way and nodding. "I never got the chance earlier, but congratulations Raven."

She grinned. "Thanks' Glyn."

With her piece said, Glynda stepped into the elevator, leaving the two of them alone. When Raven turned back, she was offered a mug of coffee.

"Thanks Oz" she said, talking it and taking a long sip, sighing contently as the caffeine entered her system. "So, should I start from the beginning?"

"In a moment. Salem's forces are obviously a major issue, but I suspect that if Summer emerged alive then the immediate threat has been dealt with."

"You'd be right."

"Good, then I have questions for you instead."

"What kind?"

"The kind to sate my curiosity. There are a few that I've had time to conjure up, given as Glynda said, it has been seven months since we last spoke."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Raven winced. "It must have been annoying being down one eye."

"Seven months in the grand scheme of things is not an issue, you are entitled to more I believe, and I would encourage you to take them."

"Alright," Raven hummed. "So what is it you wanted to ask?"

"Things about Yang actually, you've given a so far glowing review of her, but if I'm honest I'd never pegged you as one to do well with motherhood. No offence."

She laughed. "None taken, considering I felt the same way. I don't know what it is, Yang is just great. Heh, I probably sound like every other parent talking about their kind like they're some shining achievement."

The headmaster chuckled. "Considering your standards, I'm more inclined to believe you. I was wondering though, why Yang?"

"Huh?"

"The name I mean. What was the inspiration?" he smiled. "I was… thinking you might have been a little lazy with the naming honestly."

Raven rolled her eyes. "No it's _no_ t just the last part of Tai's name.

"I'm assuming I'm not the only one to bring it up then?"

"Qrow said the same."

"Ah."

"Yeah. There's some confusion there. I mean it to be a… I guess you could say reference to my name. You know, since Branwen means white and the whole Yin and Yang thing? I mean, if people think her name refers to Yellow instead of White that's fine, so long as I can explain that little bit of trivia when she gets older, I think she'll see it's cool."

"And… her vision?"

Raven sighed. "I'm not sure yet. Her eyes aren't red, not Branwen's. From the looks of it, I don't think she'll be seeing any spirits."

"I see." Ozpin hummed. "You don't sound too disappointed."

"Because I'm not." She shrugged. "I guess we miss out on me showing her the ropes of something special to our clan, but with how crazy and overwhelming it could be for her, I'm sort of relieved she doesn't have to deal with it. But who knows, she still might. Either way, Qrow and I will be there to help her through it."

"You _are_ going to train her aren't you?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yes Oz, I'm gonna train her to be a huntress, you don't have to sound so worried. I'm not naïve enough to think she's not going to have to grow strong in this world."

"I'm glad you see it the way I do."

She snorted. "Course I do, you were bound to rub off on me eventually, no matter how hard I tried to resist."

They shared a chuckle at that, of a time when Raven was far more abrasive and rebellious.

More innocent times.

There was a pause. "Ozpin. I know what you're trying to do. I already said I wasn't here to cause trouble, I promised Sum I wouldn't, you don't need to get me to talk about Yang to mellow me out."

"…my apologies. I suppose I shouldn't." He stood up, turning to look out his window down to the city below. "You desire an explanation then."

"I do." She nodded. "I don't get it Oz, why send Summer on a mission out of nowhere? By herself? You don't even do that with me or Qrow. Always in pairs, even for recon. What changed?"

"I was hoping nothing. It had not been my intention to put her out like that Raven, but the need to investigate was a surprise."

"What exactly _did_ she investigate?"

"A disturbance on the borders. Of the magical variety. It was meant to be nothing more than a look into what was happening, and if needs be, extermination… clearly, it didn't turn out that way. I do not know why Salem would suddenly act like this."

"It's not like her." Raven agreed as she crossed her arms. "She's usually more… discreet. And this doesn't make sense. There wasn't any big target out there was there?"

"There was not."

"Then I don't get why she'd actually send anyone _with_ the Grimm. It just feels way too open. Not to mention it's a major loss for her now."

"I won't go that far." The headmaster sighed. "Salem's generals will come and go, the death of one won't harm her plans too much… whatever they may be."

"So? What do we do?" The Avatar of Huginn asked.

Ozpin hummed. From here, Raven couldn't see his face, but she knew well that the old wizard was conjuring up a plan even now "There… is something else that has come up. Another disturbance further north. I'm not sure what it might be, but I have suspicions it could be more of Salem's work… especially with this new information. I… would ask you if you would go."

Raven perked up. "You're asking me to go back on missions? I thought you said I should take a break."

"It is your choice either way." He assured her. "But Summer has been injured, and I wouldn't ask her to go out on another mission in such a condition."

There was a pause as Raven realised the implication.

"But she'd go out anyway if she knew about it. Damn it."

"Quite." He agreed. "Raven, I would not send you if I had another option, but Qrow is not the… stealthy kind, and this needs discretion in the event it becomes volatile. The best way to plan around the enemy is in secret."

"So… you want me to go on a solo mission? As me first one back on the job? That's a big ask Oz."

"I know."

Raven stared at him, searching for something.

After a long moment, she let out a breath. "Fine. Guess if Sum and my idiot brother are the only other options then I have to go."

Ozpin's shoulders relaxed as he fell back into his seat. "Thank you Raven, I appreciate this immensely."

"Yeah well, don't mention it. Just tell me what I need to know and I'll start right now."

"The information will be sent to your scroll of ease… and again Raven, thank you for this. Good luck."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Two days.

It was two days later that Raven stumbled back into the headmaster of Beacon's office.

It was filled with a team of students, no doubt being reprimanded as Glynda and the man himself stood before them.

All heads turned to her however as she leaned heavily against the wall.

Covered in mud, dirt, grime… and blood.

The look on the student's faces might have been funny, if Raven didn't feel like she was about to drop.

At once, Ozpin face became grave.

"Glynda, see to the students, detention should be enough. I must speak with-"

"I understand Headmaster." The blonde nodded. "Come." she motioned to the students, who still hadn't taken their eyes off of Raven. She couldn't blame them all that much; an actual huntress had just barrelled into their headmaster's office covered in the spoils of war. She would have been the same at their age.

All the same, Glynda was like steel, and corralled them out quickly, leaving only the two of them.

"What happened?"

"Come on Oz, just-just give me a minute."

He did so, as the Branwen twin dragged herself over to the desk, using it for support as she crashed onto the chair, breathing heavily and clutching her side.

Seeing the situation for what it was, Ozpin reached into a drawer on his desk.

Two glasses, and a bottle of whisky were taken out.

"Seriously Oz," Raven rasped. "You know I haven't drank since I _got_ pregnant right?"

The offer wasn't rescinded, and after a groan, Raven took the glass, downing the drink in one.

The wizard's face was unchanged. "What happened Raven?"

"Some shit I wasn't prepared for is what happened." She hissed out. "Some recon. They were building crap."

"Building?"

"Yeah, weapons I think, or machinery. No clue why, not like Grimm have any use for stuff like that but… I don't know. They might be selling them to… someone. Whatever they're doing, it's bad."

The headmaster steeped his fingers. "It sounds it. What did you do?"

She scoffed. "Destroyed it, obviously. That wasn't the hard part. The thing is, when I did, I drew a little too much attention and… they had people supervising it."

"By the look on your face, I assume it's a problem."

She sighed. "One of em' was a mage. The chick was crazy, lit herself on fire while she fought. Her aura must have been pumping the whole time to heal her because I could _smell_ the damage."

"I'm assuming that is why you look so…. Battle damaged."

"Not even close," Raven grimaced. "She was a glass cannon at best. Taking her down was a done deal, it was the other guy that was the problem… Gretchen's brother was there."

And just like that the atmosphere grew even heavier.

The name brought back painful memories for Raven, old ones she'd buried deep.

Gretchen had been a… friend. She'd been smart, cheery and so incredibly stubborn that even Raven had eventually given in. Other than her own team, there weren't many Raven considered worthy of her time. Gretchen had been one of the exceptions.

And then in their third year, she'd died.

Raven wasn't sure how it happened, she'd only heard it was a freak accident, a routine patrol that all Huntsmen teams did as part of their work experience.

Her team had been crippled by something, Grimm most likely but some attributed it to an explosion or human error.

They'd lost their shots at becoming Huntsman.

And Gretchen had lost her life.

It had hurt all of them, to show up at her funeral and watch the empty box go down.

And of all that had been hit hard by it, her brother had been the worst.

Hazel Rainart, just an ordinary guy that had worried too much over his little sister and her dream to be a hero.

Even worse, was how Raven knew it affected him on an entirely different level.

Hansel and Gretel.

Twin Avatars, linked by some magical force that brought them closer than anything else rightly should have. In a way, they were literally two halves of a whole.

And that had been taken from him.

It would have been like if Raven had lost Qrow, the emptiness she'd feel wouldn't just be emotional, as much as that would break her.

But something much, much more intimate, something within her soul.

Raven had thought Hazel had been a broken man from it all.

And unfortunately, it looked like she'd been right.

"It saw it with my own eyes Ozpin." She murmured. "The Grimm listened to his words…. He's with Salem, somehow."

"Did you…"

The Huntress shook her head. "I managed to fight him off, but only by using the woman as a living bomb. I got out of there, but…"

Ozpin's eyes looked heavy, tired. "I see. That… is unfortunate."

"Tell me about it." She sighed. "I'm just… drained for this Oz. Maybe I shouldn't have come back so soon. Right now, I just want to go home."

He looked up at her sharply. "Raven, you know you can't do that."

She froze, and her eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"You know why Raven. Hazel was involved in Gretchen's life, you'd met him even as students… he _knows_ you. All of you."

Oh.

…oh.

Hazel knew her.

Hazel knew her team.

Hazel might know about her family. About Yang.

Which meant… _Salem…_ might know about Yang.

"Raven," Ozpin spoke softly. "I need to you calm down."

The huntress blinked. Oh. She… she hadn't realised she'd been hyperventilating. Since when had… since when did she do that?

It didn't matter. None of that mattered. Hazel knew who she was. If he'd kept up on things he might know about what she'd been doing all these years. If- if he knew that then he could find out about her daughter. And then he'd tell Salem.

Her head snapped up to the headmaster, her eyes wide and desperate.

"What do I do?" she whimpered. "Ozpin what do I do?!"

He stood up, facing the window in contemplation.

"You know what you have to do... we both do."

She did.

But.

"I can't." she moaned. "I- I can't do that."

"It doesn't seem you have a choice." he sighed. "As much as it loathes me to admit, there isn't anything I can do in this situation, not when we don't know what information Hazel has on you… if they decided that the best way to me was through you, and ergo your daughter, then I fear the results could be catastrophic."

She knew that.

Fuck she knew that.

"My Semblance is made by bonds Ozpin," she hissed. One hand flying up to grip at her hair. "I can't just- I… I can't just break them."

The headmaster moved to stand before her, and rested a hand gently on her shoulder. "You don't need to, not truly. It will only be an act."

"And act?" she glared. "I doubt it'll feel like that, especially if the only way to do this is to…"

"Disappear." He finished. "Yes. You must leave, in truth, you mustn't drag them into this, not your family, and in connection, not Qrow or Summer… we will have to deceive them."

They would have to pretend that Raven had ran out on them.

The woman in question swallowed. "How am I supposed to do that? What kind of mother can just leave her own daughter behind?"

"The strong kind."

She stared at the man that had been her professor. "W-what?"

"You will be the mother that sacrifices her own happiness to protect eh ones you love, that is strength Raven. That is what a mother should always be willing to give up. I know you're strong enough for it."

Raven… wasn't sure she agreed.

But she didn't need to.

The facts were that if she acted like this wasn't happening, there was a danger Salem would target more than just her person.

Ozpin was right. There wasn't a choice.

"What do we do then?" she asked. "How…. How do we make this believable?"

He sighed wearily. "It starts here. We must make it seem like you broke off connections with everyone, including me. I will create a scenario where you decided you'd had enough, for our enemies, it will seem that you became disillusioned with my ways, as it will with your team."

She swallowed. "And then? How… what do I do?"

"You will continue taking missions for me." He said. "Doing nothing won't change anything. If you are to have a chance to return to your family soon, then the threat of Hazel and of others that may know of your connections must be dealt with…. Until then, I will do all I can to keep the others safe."

"You'll do more than that." Raven ordered. "If- If I'm doing this, then you have to make sure the others don't get involved. You- you have to promise me that they won't take any missions, not these kinds, not the kind involving Salem. I… Keep them safe. Tai, Qrow, Yang, Summer, all of them."

Ozpin's gaze hardened for a moment, so fast she almost missed it.

"Understood. You have my word, so long as you do this, I will protect them from her machinations."

Raven let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "Thank you…. Thank you Oz."

"It is a professor's duty to help his students, even more so for me, with the responsibilities I bestowed upon you."

"I only hope it's enough."

* * *

…

…

* * *

A year had passed almost like lightning.

The second, just as blindingly quick.

Then a third and a fourth.

Mission after mission, near-death experience after near-death experience, each and every time, Raven emerged alive and determined. In a morbidly curious way, Raven noted that with each mission, she'd improved.

She'd gotten stronger, faster, smarter, and, even more than that, she'd learn to be more brutal, more visions and scheming to win.

She'd gotten better, if she had to guess, she might have been able to take on her whole team at once.

It was understandable though, because they'd gotten to live the quiet life, the peaceful life.

One Raven watched now from her perch in the trees.

She watched Tai smile so brightly as he played with Yang, letting the four-year-old climb all over him with reckless abandon. She watched Qrow, watching it all with a grin as he egged his niece on.

And she watched Summer, with her own daughter, cheer from the sidelines.

Ruby.

Yang's half-sister.

It should have filled her with rage.

She was sure that any other woman would after seeing how… quickly their husband had moved on, how her partner, her best friend hand taken her place all of a sudden and gone as far as to have a child with him.

And yet…. All Raven felt was resignation.

Anger wasn't fair, not with what they'd been forced to believe, that she'd abandoned them. Even if she'd felt rage, or jealousy, she knew she would never have been able to hold it.

They…were happy.

They'd moved on in her absence, and made things work without her.

And in a twist of fate, or some godly force, Raven knew that she couldn't hate Summer's child, the one with silver eyes; not as she ran to Yang, not as she saw her jump into her arms and watched as her daughter swung her around, laughing without a care in the world.

Filled with joy.

One reserved for family.

For the love of a sister.

Raven was thankful she was in her corvid form, otherwise, she might have felt how her eyes burned with tears.

This was meant to be her life, one with a family.

It… it might have still happened like this. It could have, if things had worked out that way.

She just wanted to be a part of it.

She would be.

After all of this time she knew it would be hard, for all to them, and in some ways, it might not be fair on them.

But for once, Raven wanted to be selfish. She wanted to come back to this.

If that meant getting down on her knees and beg for forgiveness, then so be it.

Soon.

After all of this time, Salem's forces hadn't found anything on her. She'd fought them without a threat or warning that her family would be in danger.

Four years. If they hadn't by now, it was likely they never would.

Soon, she'd be able to go back.

She was excited for it.

She' spoken to Ozpin, talking to him about this.

He'd agreed.

This was to be her last mission before he'd bring them all back together.

Just one more push.

With that future, that goal in mind, Raven spread her wings, taking off into the sky.

As she rose, she missed how three pairs of eyes followed her ascent.

As always, her journey to Beacon was a quick one, and as always, when she arrived, it was to see Ozpin sitting behind his desk.

It was the importance of this day however that had him stand upon her entry.

Despite herself, she grinned. "Hey professor, what's my homework this week?"

He chuckled. "Something a little bit different from the usual actually."

"Yeah?"

"Indeed, since this is your last mission for me, I thought of giving you something easy, to… wind down as it were."

Her shoulders relaxed a fraction.

"Really? Nothing life threatening? No do-or-die stakes this time?"

"Not for someone of your calibre. In all honesty this should be child's play, it may take some time however, I would say a few days, maybe a week to be safe."

She sat down at the desk. "Alright, so what's the deal then? Recon? Looking into some trouble with Ironwoods workings?"

"James has been doing fine. It was a little chaotic yes, but a year as General and he's finally got things under control, better than his predecessors if I am quite honest."

"Okay I get it, you like him." She rolled her eyes. So what _am_ I doing then?"

He handed her over his scroll.

"There have been reports of a Grimm infestation near a frontier town by the name of Verttone, just near the borders of Vale's inhabited lands. It's a decently sized town, but all in all not to vital to the kingdoms expiation."  
"Which makes it the perfect place to hide something." Raven summarised. "So you want me to get in there and, what? Take them out?"

"Indeed." The headmaster nodded. "From what I have gathered they are simple beowolves. This is but an extermination mission."

"Wow Oz," Raven laughed. "I know you said easy but come on, this is something for initiation students."

"All the more chance for you to simply have fun one last time. You'll be quite busy afterwards I assume."

She looked up and smiled. "Yeah…. This is it. One last time as your eye… then I'll get to see them again." She ignored the way her eyes watered. "You better throw a whole damn party Oz, I want it to go well, I need to do this right."

"Message received."

"Right then," she said, downloading the information onto her scroll. I better get going then, shouldn't I?

"It would be best." He agreed. "I will await your return, and do everything I can to help with the times ahead."

"Thanks Oz, I mean that."

* * *

…

…

* * *

Three days later, and Raven had found her target.

Or, well the evidence of it.

She'd spoken with some of the residents, nice people, but hard and stern, the kind that usually grew in conditions like this, so far out from the capital by themselves. Things were tougher, so _people_ were tougher. They'd gotten in a few scrapes with Grimm before, managed it with their own militia, without the need for Huntsmen.

The fact that she'd been sent here then, had been her first warning.

That she didn't see it for more, was her first mistake.

She'd asked around for information and after convincing them she was genuine they'd done their best to help her clue together some stuff; frequency of attacks, the damage down, the sightings, what witnesses had said.

Ozpin had been right. There _was_ some kind of nest, or t least the beginnings of one.

Grimm didn't create, they didn't build, not unless one of two conditions were met, first, they had an alpha, some older Grimm with the understanding of what a base of some kind would offer them, or two, they'd moved into a nest made by another creature. Goblins, trolls or any number of other things.

From the looks of it, and by the words of the residents of Verttone, it seemed to be a pack of beowolves terrorising people who travelled to and from. They were on the outskirts somewhere, rumours and suspicions thanks to howls at night that they had taken root in a grotto just east of the town.

The number of victims have been low, but the number of missing people was high, still, some believed that they could be alive - from the fact that no corpses had been recovered – filled people with at least a spark of hope.

For Raven, it did the same, because it meant that she'd be able to complete this mission quickly, and get home to her team.

A single pack of Beowolves would be nothing to her, like she'd told Ozpin, this was a task for brats that had just succeeded in passing their initiation.

In other words, child's play.

The Branwen woman strode through the treeline, tilting her head, listening out for any disturbances around her, anything that might have been unnatural.

Her eyes scanned the forest before her.

The magical energy in the air was weak here, there was no source but… something lingered.

It could have been that whatever wellspring of magic that had existed had dried out centuries ago, or something of suitable power may have passed through in the last few weeks.

If that was the case though, Raven suspected the town's folk would be a lot more panicked…

Or, you know, dead.

It showed other things of course, while the eyes of the blessed allowed Raven to see beings related magic, they could also be focused to fine the more… chaotic aspects, magic in a physically dangerous form.

In other words, Raven could track Grimm through their past interactions with the land, and how they seeped their magic into it.

Right now it was coming in hand, since she'd picked up a trail, recently made and straight ahead.

This was the direction of the grotto right?

Raven let her hands fall to the hilt of Bifrost. At the first sign of a fight, she'd need to be ready. Depending on how she played this, she might be able to end it quickly, stealthily. If not, she'd need crushing force.

Right now, the undergrowth was her friend.

From the sounds of it – that being growls ahead – she was close.

The Huntress kept low, sneaking deliberately closer as the trees ahead parted, and a drop appeared before her.

It wasn't much of one, maybe ten feet or so, with a flat grassland and lake at the other side, and the beginnings of a cliff face on her right.

And down below-

"What the…" Raven muttered. What… was she looking at?

The huntress unsheathed Bifrost, clicking a blue blade into place and hopped down. She landed soundlessly and looked around.

This was…

There were bodies, not of humans.

But Grimm. They'd been… torn apart. Claw and fang marks littered the dark corpses in brutally horrific fashion.

"No blade wounds." She murmured. "Whatever these things had been fighting had torn them, apart like an animal."

And so effectively that they'd died without killing it. There must have been twenty Grimm or so around her, a few fading away slowly before her eyes.

Raven stilled.

Wait.

If they hadn't dissolved yet, then that meant that whatever had killed them was still-

Raven's realisation was cut off as something _crashed_ into her with the force of a bullhead.

And something _cracked_.

Raven cried out as the air was forced from her lungs in brutal fashion and she was _lifted_ off her feet, soaring through the air and slamming down painfully.

Her ribs. Half a dozen ribs on her left side had been snapped in an instant. She hadn't activated her aura in time to block it and she was paying for it now as her insides ached. Her body groaned, desiring nothing more than to curl up into a ball.

In was the training drilled into her as a huntress that saved her as she forced her body to roll.

Just in time to avoid the massive claws that cleaved through the ground.

Raven pushed off the ground with her momentum, rolling to her feet and leaping back, clutching her side with one hand and holding her blade in front of her in an effort to ward off a follow-up attack.

It had no effect.

Raven's eyes widened as a massive figure lunged at her almost to fast for her to even register.

She swept her sword wide and felt the tip connect with flesh.

The beast yelped and hopped back, landing on all fours and baring its teeth, snarling at her.

In the brief second of respite, Raven finally got a look at what had attacked her.

A huge, hulking creature, as tall as she was even on all fours, fur back as Grimm and wild, slit eyes. It was ragged, decaying in some patches, sickly and played, rabid and mad.

And glaring savagely right at her.

"Werewolf." Raven hissed painfully. "You can't be serious."

Why was there a _werewolf_ here?!

She didn't get an answer, especially not as the beast lunged at her again.

She dived to the side, slashing out as it passed her. Her blade hissed as it dug into its muscles, frosting over the wound with a freezing mist.

She grimaced however, as she watched the cut knit itself back together.

Shit.

This thing when it was human hadn't possessed aura, but a healing factor like this trumped even what _that_ could give her.

No defence, but incredible healing.

It was definitely a piss-take considering her own aura was just barely welding her rips back together inside of her body.

Oh, and how painful that was.

Her vision was blurring from it.

This thing on the other hand looked as if it was ignoring the pain she inflicted on it!

It howled madly, slashing at her and snapping its mangy maw towards her neck. She ducked, slamming an elbow underneath and clicking its fangs shut before thrusting Bifrost underneath and towards its hind legs.

It pierced through flesh, carved through bone and splintered as ice dug into its joint.

She disengaged the blade before she could be pulled along and rolled out from underneath.

Her sheath clicked as it rotated and she set a black blade into Bifrost's hilt.

Ice was ineffective, fire might be different but she didn't have time to test it out. Lightening, probably capable of at least slowing it down, but if it powered through the paralysis she was screwed, Wind? No, range would be useful, but not essential. What she needed was power, force.

Gravity Dust would do that.

This time, Raven went on the offensive, slashing wide and catching its shoulder. There was a spurt of blood as it dug deep.

The beast-like before, tried to push through.

Bifrost's blade _shimmered_ however as the gravity Dust took effect.

And the force of the blow was magnified.

The werewolf hit the ground with the force of a boulder, cracking it as it skid across and underneath Raven as she herself leap over it.

She made sure to slash out at its back as she did so, and spun to deliver another slice to its legs again. Both threw the creature back.

The huntress hopped back, building the distance between them as the lycanthrope tilted its body and righted itself in the air.

When it faced her again, Raven raised her sword, guarding her stance as she aimed the tip towards the earth, waiting for it to lunge at her again.

When it didn't however…

Raven watched as its bestial eyes flickered between her and Bifrost. She grit her teeth. Damn it. Werewolves were creatura, they were human in some aspect, perhaps if they hadn't been too far corrupted, they still could be.

That meant they weren't Grimm. They had human-like intelligence.

Right now, that was coming into effect.

Slowly, the monster rose up.

Its body rippled as muscles rolled underneath its fur. It rose higher and higher as it stood, ow like a human, hunched menacingly, foam and spittle dripping from its fangs as the beast came to its full height.

Even as mangy, gnarled and sick as it looked, it still stood at some ten, maybe eleven feet, towering over her even from her distance away from it.

It was serious now.

That point was clarified as it _moved_.

Raven's eyes widened as it cleared the space between them in a single second as swiped at her throat.

She leaned back, nearly stumbling as it shaved her aura.

Its other claw came down and she had to throw herself out of the way as it tore up the earth beneath her feet, rubble and debris skittering out. It's showered her, and she had to raise an arm to shield her eyes. It blinded her for a moment.

That was her second mistake.

Raven cried out as the werewolf swung upwards and caught her dead centre in the stomach. Its claws sparked off her aura as if flared up. The claws weren't the most damaging factor however. I was the force.

The beast had thrown all of its strength into the attack, and it not only lifted Raven off of her feet again, but sent her _flying_ upwards.

The wind rushed by as Raven careened and she choked as her body battered against the grotto's cliff face hard enough to crack the stone.

Her body seized up in agony as gravity peeled her off of the stone and she fell.

She didn't land though, because the beast and appeared in front of her and _rammed_ its fist into her stomach, carving her through the cliff face again.

It had punched her.

The werewolf had _punched_ her.

And it was _still_ punching her.

Again.

And again.

 _And again._

Every shot felt like her insides were being obliterated, liquefied from every strike that tore pain through every nerve in her body.

Raven tried to scream, but it was as if her lungs weren't working. They… they might have been caved in. If so then she was already dead, everything else from here on out was just the epilogue.

She nearly missed the fact that the blows hand might have been because she'd blacked out once or itch between it.

Her aura… it was one, she was bleeding inside and out and lying face down in the dirt.

She felt something, press down on her head and _push._

She groaned in agony.

That's right. Werewolves weren't Grimm. They didn't just kill their victims.

They were human. Savage, wild and unbridled, but still human.

And that meant all of their cruelness carried over.

It was going to make it hurt.

The monster howled into the sky as its foot pressed down on her, revelling in its victory.

It had beaten her.

After years of struggling tooth and nail to survive, fighting against the forces of Grimm, monsters and humans alike, single fucking werewolf had taken her down.

Right at the end.

On her last _fucking_ _mission_!

That wasn't fair.

Through the torment, Raven ground her teeth together and pushed her arms beneath her.

This wasn't fucking fair!

She wasn't going to die, right before she got to see her family again, to some _mangy-fucking-nobody!_

The werewolf paused in its victory, sensing her struggle. It snarled angrily and Raven scratch as one of its clawed hands closed around her head and _lifted_ her up.

Her teeth creaked as she dangled in the air and it roared in her face.

Raven's hand flew to her scabbard. She'd lose Bifrost hilt when she'd been hit, but the blades were still there. With nothing to hold them, she'd have to use her bare hands.

An ice blade shot out, and she caught it as it did, her fingers bleeding as it sliced them open but still she held on, she squeezed tighter and raised her arm.

And stabbed down with all of the power she could muster.

It pierced through its arm and the creatura yelped. By some divine miracle, it dropped her in shock. Raven lunged at the chance.

Her second blade shot out and she caught it again, fire Dust, it burned her fingers, boiled her blood with every second she held it.

She let out a howl of her own as she brought it down on the beast form.

It pierced just as the last had and made it flinch in pain.

She grabbed another blade.

And another.

Another and another and another.

Again and again and again.

Blade after blade after blade.

Fire, ice, lightning, gravity wind and every other type she had at her disposal she stabbed them into the monster.

There every joint, every opening, through flesh, muscle, bone and organs.

It was burned. It was frozen, it was paralysed. It was lacerated. It was torn open pieced by bloody, gory piece. A single moment had been what Raven needed to turn it around.

Because she was strong. Because she refused to die now, when she as so close to the end.

The werewolf wailed as it reared back.

One look at it now and she could see the damage. It was dead. It was going to die. Even its healing factor couldn't save it, as sick as it was it would likely bleed out, or die from other predators that it would be at the mercy of.

But standing before her as it was, Raven wanted to be the one to kill it. To finish it off.

That, was her third, and final mistake.

They say a rat is most dangerous when it is cornered, that when an animal was dying it was at its deadliest.

Raven learned the hard way the truth in that fact.

Faster than anything she'd experienced from it before, the werewolf dove forward, straight through her guard, through her range so close and so sudden she couldn't react.

She couldn't stop it.

Not when it bit down.

And sank its teeth into her shoulder.

" _Noooooo!_

Raven brought her final blade down in the next fraction of a second, carving straight through the top if it's head, though it's brain and out of its throat.

Still clinging onto her shoulder, the beast let out one final death rattle as its life was extinguished.

Raven fell back and the monster's corpse fell on top of her.

She cried out, hands flying to its maw and prizing it open.

The fang marks dripped red, blood flowing freely from the punctures.

Raven's hand clasped her shoulder as she began to hyperventilate.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit!"_

This wasn't happening.

This couldn't be happening!

She'd been bitten.

She'd been infected.

The fucker had spread his curse!

Lycanthropy.

She'd been afflicted with lycanthropy.

She could turn.

 _She could become one of them!_

Raven grit her teeth, lying on her back as tears burned at her eyes and her mind raced with the realisation of what had just happened.

Right at the end.

Right at the very end and everything had been _ruined_!

What was she going to do now?

* * *

...

...

* * *

 **Well… damn Raven, what can I say to that? What can _Yang_ say to that?**

 **We'll have to wait and see.**

 **I'm sure a few of you picked up on things in terms of references, like how Raven explained Yang's name. Before I watched the show I'd heard of Yang as a character and the colour rule, and the first thing that popped into my head was Yin and Yang. This is a reference to that I guess, which is interesting enough since Branwen means White, blessed or bird. Her name is literally Blake White… Yin and Yang.**

 **Also, I gave a name to Raven's weapon, since at this time We've got nothing other than 'Raven's sword. That change eventually but for now I've gone with Bifrost. A reference to her Avatar as a Norse Legend, her ability to create portals and her multi-coloured swords.**

 **Is that the rainbow bridge or what?**

 **A few other things here and there that I'll expand upon, like naming rules for places and people. Verttone is a reference to the french word for green and much later, we'll have a few more characters to add with the same kind of rule.**

 **So what do you think of Raven's story so far? How do you think Yang's going to react? How do you think Blake's going to react? Or others. Like Qrow if they ever find out?**

 **I suppose we'll just have to wait.**


	55. The Wolf & The Raven: Part 2

**Here we go**

...

* * *

This couldn't be happening.

 _This_ _couldn't be happening._

Raven struggled for breath as she gripped her shoulder hard, as if by some miracle she could squeeze the infection out her it.

It burned. The bite marks burned like acid on her skin and it was as if her arm was about to tear itself apart from the inside out.

One bite.

All it had taken was one bite, and all of her skill, all of her training, experience and abilities had been made irrelevant.

This was going to kill her.

Lycanthropy was going to kill her!

What were the chances? What were they _damn_ it?

She couldn't access the Odyssium to find the answers. Her mind was racing far too fast. Was it her own fear? Her panic? Or was it already taking effect?

Raven grit her teeth, screwing her eyes shut tight as a spasm jolted through her body.

Damn it all to hel.

Lycanthropy was a disease. It infected its host and attacked them with all sorts of pathogens that even normally would be dangerous for a human, deadly even under the right circumstances.

She'd never seen it in person, the transformation, the sickness. Raven had no idea how this would work.

Someone might though.

Ozpin.

She needed to see Ozpin.

He could help her, reverse his somehow with his magic.

He'd know what to do at least.

He had to.

With that in mind, Raven dragged herself to her feet, forcing past the pain that singed underneath her skin. Her legs wobbled jus from standing.

The faster she got to Ozpin the better.

Hysterically, she lifted a hand, calling for a portal to Summer, if she'd help. Of course she would. Her partner would know what to-

 _No!_

She snatched her hand back.

What was she thinking? She couldn't go back like this! Not in the condition she was in now. Ridiculous. Her mind was lardy leaving her. At least she hadn't summoned it yet. Her portal to Summer hadn't opened. With her level of concentration right now, it had just fizzled out.

Good. She couldn't make that mistake.

She'd fly to Ozpin, like always.

She took a breath, fighting past the aching running down her back. There was a pull, a drag like her magic was grinding against something else.

Her face scrunched in concentration, willing past it with as much force as she could muster.

Something clicked, and she felt her body morph into feathers.

That was…. Right, it was messing with everything wasn't it? Her body was freaking out.

That was normal, she told herself. It had to be for something like this. People got fevers when they're bodies fought diseases. This was just the same thing right?

Oz would be able to fix this how. She knew he could.

She spread her wings and shot into the sky, rising higher and higher upwards pat the trees, past the mountains around her and the clouds above until below her was a sea of white.

She knew which way Vale was, the higher she went the faster she could get here. She needed to get there. Fast.

The sky screamed past as she sped up, the wind whipped around her, blasting currents of wind under her feathers.

Her corvid body showed no damage, but Raven had to do everything in her power to keep herself focus. If she lost consciousness for even just let her control slip for half a second she could go crashing back to the earth.

In the back of her mind, the signatures she had bonded with grew closer. Patch was growing closer and in turn, Vale.

Sill so far of, Raven flew for hours, until the sun began to fall and the moon began to rise.

Not a full moon.

Thank the gods for small mercies.

She had time, however much that might have been.

She descended, down below the clouds where she could see Beacon tower, shining in the night. The lights were still on that meant Oz was still up.

God. She could talk to him the-

Raven cried out as she felt a stab of pain in her chest and her concentration slipped.

She transformed back into her human form mid-air and careened towards the ground.

Her body locked up, and she braced for the impact as she crashed right down into Beacon's courtyard.

The remnants of her aura that had recharged during her flight were all she had to shield herself from the landing, but they served their purpose.

I flared brightly as it broke again, and she groaned in pain as she came to a messy stop, dust floating up from a mini crater she'd made. Raven wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball until the pain passed.

But it wouldn't, not if she didn't do something.

She had to ride it out, push her way through brute force style.

So she pushed herself up once again, stumbling up to her feet, and rushing inside Beacon tower as fast as she could, practically falling into the elevator, and when the doors opened again, Ozpin stood there, his back to her, staring out the window.

"Oz!" she gasped. "I need your help!"

No response, other than a twitch of his head. He'd heard her, but wasn't answering, wasn't even acknowledging her.

Raven wasn't in the right state of mind to question why.

"Oz." she coughed, gripping her shoulder as new blood leaked out of the wound. Shit, why was it not healing? "Come on Oz talk to me!"

Nothing. She could see his reflection in the window. He could see her too. She knew he could, and she could see how focused his gaze was even from here, even in her state. The mission, the- it wasn't beowolves, or it was but-" she shivered madly. "It wasn't the thing that as killing them. There was a werewolf, hiding there in the forest."

"Yes… I know," he finally spoke. "Tell me, was it dealt with?"

He was asking about _that_ of all things? With her bleeding on his carpet? "Y-yeah. I killed it b-but Oz it- it got me. I'm bit!"

"I know," he said again. "I can feel the… infection off of you, I could as soon as you entered Beacon."

Right, magic, that made sense. He probably sensed it somehow.

"Yeah." She nodded quickly. "So what do we do? How can I- how do I fix this? What do I need to cure it?

"Cure it?" he echoed, turning to the huntress at last. All of a sudden, Raven felt the… _wrongness_ in the air, the stillness of his features that made her skin crawl.

No, what was she thinking? She'd been bitten, she was freaking out. Of course things would feel off. She could even feel a fever coming on as she stood there.

"I'm afraid there is no _cure_ for lycanthropy Raven." He told her, shaking his head. "Such a curse is far more rooted in primordial magic, thigs not even I can reverse, nor do I think it is even possible by mortal means."

She felt her heart spasm.

No. That wasn't right.

There were- there were people who had gotten through it hadn't here? She'd read it herself. There were cases of it recorded in the Odyssium!

"But, what about how it can clear out of a person's system. That means there a chance of _something_ right?"

He hummed, striding over to his desk, leaning lightly against it.

"It is possible… there is a one in seven chance that you will be able to ride through without change. If that is the case, the fever should last until the next full moon. If you are lucky, nothing will happen.

The next full moon. Raven's mind raced through the days. The next full moon was two nights from now.

"However," he added, interrupting her thoughts. "That still leaves the other two options."

She looked up, staring at him. "There… are _two_ other things that could happen?"

"Of course," she shrugged apathetically. Raven' stomach churned. "There is a four in seven chance that the infection will be too much for your body to handle, overloading your organs and bloodstream with pathogens and killing you. From what I have gathered, it is horrifically painful."

Yes. She'd known that. She hadn't expected the chances to be so high. And she didn't appreciate Ozpin's cold description of it. She was aware that sometimes you needed to be level headed, and a situation like this called for it, but couldn't he show at least a little bit of compassion?

"And then there is the last option," at this, Ozpin's face twisted into a sneer. "The infection could take a permanent hold on you, mutating until it became what lycanthropy is known for."

"Transformation." She whispered. "And… I'll find that out… at the next full moon then too, won't I?"

"You will not."

And suddenly, everything felt heavy.

"W-what?"

"Do you think I would risk the chance of you becoming a werewolf Raven? Do you think I would allow such an… _infestation_ to take root within my ranks? To taint my city like you would? Lycanthropy is one of the sickest, twisted apparitions of magic possible, to take a man's will and warp it with the primal savagery humanity once left behind. You would have no control of yourself, and you would possess a crippling weakness to silver. I cannot have my eye weakened like that."

"What are you saying?"

"I am saying that I will not risk what you could become, but, that I am merciful enough to spare you of the pain you could feel and put you out of your misery now."

Raven took a step back in horror.

Ozpin was saying he was going to kill her.

The look on his face, the seriousness of it the- the disgust in it, was enough for her to tell that he was serious.

She'd- she'd known he had a distaste for the creatura, but she hadn't thought he would-

"O-oz you can't be serious!" she gasped falling back another step. "It's me! Raven! I'm still me, I'll still be loyal to you even if I become one of those things!"

"I will not risk it."

"There's nothing to risk!" she cried. "I could die! I could get through this with nothing changing or I could turn! I'd need your help to control it sure but the only change would that I might get stron…ger…"

No.

Raven's eyes widened very, _very_ slowly.

"You knew." She whispered in horror. "You knew that there was a werewolf there… you… you wanted it to kill me. You wanted it to infect me so you could kill me."

"… Quite a leap in logic, is it not?"

It was, maddeningly so. But the pieces were clicking together in her head, information, ideas and logic she wouldn't have thought made sense otherwise. One thing didn't however.

"Why…" she pled. "Why would you…"

Ozpin looked irritated, like her presence was beginning to offend him, like the past four years suddenly didn't matter. He… looked bored.

"Your usefulness ceased some time ago. It was merely a decision of when I would stop using you. That had its own issue however."

"W-what?"

"Did you really think I wouldn't use every tool at my disposal? Your presumption to limit my ability was a naive one."

Raven's blood, despite the heat she felt crawling under her skin, ran cold. "You… never stopped using them."

Qrow.

Summer.

The whole reason she'd kept herself away from them.

Raven's face morphed into a furious snarl. _"You never stopped sending them on missions!"_

"Of course not," he dismissed. "Qrow may not be as powerful as you, but he is still useful, and far more willing to follow without asking questions. And Summer? Did you think I wouldn't use a weapon as powerful as her eyes as frequently as possible? As rare as they are?"

Raven shook madly.

All that time. Her chances to raise her daughter. To live a peaceful life.

The blood, the sweat, the tears, all of the fear and uncertainty she'd felt, all of the pain, and the times she'd thought of just giving up, all of the times she'd nearly died.

All of it, sacrificed to protect her family. Sacrificed so that they wouldn't have to be a part of this war.

And it had all been for _nothing!_

"You…. Son of a bitch."

"Call me whatever you wish, it matters not to me what a creature such as you are now thinks of me."

"I'll tell them." Raven growled. "I'll tell them the truth. Do you think they'll let this go when they find out what I've been doing? That you've been lying to them and now done this?!"

"It is _because_ of that chance that this is what has occurred." He scoffed. "Letting you return was never an option, their trust in me is too useful to damage with your return… fortunately, I've had four years to build a narrative. One you yourself agreed upon. Do you think you would have the chance to convince them otherwise? That I would let you?"

She grit her teeth.

In the silence, Ozpin shook his head. "Never mind then."

Raven stiffened as she witnessed him reach for his cane, sweeping it out before him.

"Come then Raven, let us tie up this loose end."

Raven's own hand twitched towards Bifrost's, but her heart was racing.

She couldn't beat Ozpin. She wasn't strong enough, wasn't fast enough, and like this, she had even less of a chance.

She had to run. There was no other option, but even that was nigh impossible.

Ozpin was faster than her, be it with his magic or his semblance.

She wouldn't be able to create a portal. As soon as she did her guard would be down and he'd capitalize on it.

Turning her back was even more dangerous. She'd never see her death coming but come it would.

She did have a way though, didn't she?

His own magic would be her chance.

And since she couldn't beat him, she just needed to do something he wouldn't expect.

…Like attack.

Raven rushed forward, tearing Bifrost from its scabbard harder than it could handle. Upon leaving its holder, the red blade snapped, and its momentum shot it forwards in a spinning arc straight at the wizard.

Ozpin smacked it aside just as fast, and his eyes narrowed as Raven sped towards him, prepared to counterattack.

And so he wasn't expecting, though perhaps he should have, Raven dashing right past him.

He barely had time to turn a fraction, as Raven brought up her arms to cross her face and clenched her eyes shut.

The towers glass shattered the next instant, and Raven plummeted towards the ground.

Through sheer force of will Raven's concentration held and her body twisted.

And she soared into the sky.

She kept flying, as fast as she could towards patch.

If she had looked back.

She would have seen Ozpin's face twisted with rage.

Raven flew.

She kept flying, without pause, without slowing, all the way across the sea, all the way to Patch.

All the way to her home.

She was in her human form before she touched down.

She landed badly and stumbled, falling to the ground before she scrambled back up, clawing her way to the front porch.

"Tai!" she cried. "Tai it's me! Qrow! Summer! I'm back!"

No response.

She coughed painfully, her chest constricting as she shivered.

"Please open up!" she yelped out. "Tai! Sum! I can explain everything! I'm back!"

Still nothing.

Raven looked around, disorientated. The…. The lights were off. Were they asleep?

She closed her eyes, searching for their presence.

No. They weren't in the house.

There were close though, and together.

But… something was wrong.

She shook her head. No, she doesn't need to focus on that now. She needed to find them, she needed to talk to them.

Her legs felt like they were about to give out.

She ran.

Her heart beating wildly.

This was her chance.

To hel with what Ozpin had done. The bastard didn't know what he was talking about. They'd accept her back. They were her family.

Raven barrelled through the forest, closer and closer she got, closer.

Closer

Raven felt a smile break across her face.

This was it.

She could set things right.

Everything was going to be-

Raven skid to a stop, right at the edge of the treeline.

She could see them.

Tai, Qrow, even her daughter, holding her father's hand.

They had they're back to her and…. They were wearing black.

What were they…

Oh.

Oh gods no.

Raven's legs gave out, and she fell against a tree.

"No." she begged. "No this can't be real."

Her husband, her brother, her daughter stood there on the edge of the cliff.

In front of a gravestone.

 _Summer Rose._

 _Thus kindly I scatter._

No.

No, No, No, No, No No No No NoNoNoNo _please No!_

Raven crashed backwards onto the ground.

This couldn't be happening. It wasn't realty. Not a chance.

There had to be some mistake.

Desperately, she reached for Bifrost, freeing it and focusing on Summer's signature.

It was still there. It was still there in her mind. She had to be alive.

She brought the blade down and-

Nothing.

No portal.

It was like- it was like her semblance had reached out for an anchor and found nothing.

That…

She did it again.

And again.

And again and again and again.

Nothing.

Nothing

 _Nothing_!

This couldn't be happening.

This wasn't really happening.

This was some… twisted nightmare.

She was hallucinating, going crazy.

That had to be it, because the other option was-

Raven grabbed both sides of her head in fistfuls of hair.

" _No."_ she choked out, tears streaming down her face unaided.

This wasn't fair.

Summer wasn't supposed to die.

Not when she'd just decided to come back.

This wasn't-

She shouldn't have died because s _he_ should have been there instead of wasting her time with-

A scream threatened to tear open her throat.

Her leader, her partner, her best friend was _fucking_ dead!

She should have been there to stop it!

But Ozpin.

Ozpin had sent her on a mission, sent her on mission's right under her nose for _years_.

No wonder why he'd acted.

He'd know.

He'd known Summer was dead and knew she'd find out.

Oh gods. Tai, Qrow, Yang, Summer's own child. They were dealing with this right now without her.

Her head turned to them as they stood there, Yang was weeping openly about the woman that had raised her in Raven's place.

She needed to be there. She needed to talk to them, to help somehow, to do something.

She stumbled forward, ready to break the treeline as her eyes scanned over them looking for Summer's own. There she was in Yang's arms, a look on her face like she didn't truly understand what was going on. She-

 _Was a parasite. The spawn of the one that stole my mate from me!_

Something inside Raven's head broke and her eyes widened as she froze.

Something inside of her snapped savagely, insanely as her eyes locked onto Summer's little girl, and her chest burned with the desire to _tear_ _her apart_ and take back what was hers. To erase the proof that her mate wasn't her anymore.

" _Stop."_ She groaned, fingernails digging into her scalp. Why? What was happening to her?!

Desperately, her eyes sought out her brother.

 _A threat. Competition to my status as the alpha. Someone I need to eradicate to keep control of-_

" _Stop it!_ " she sobbed, blood staining her hair as it oozed out of her scalp.

The Curse. It was twisting her thoughts, forging up this savage rage in her, this twisted craving to wipe out her own family.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't put them in that sort of danger if this was how she was-

Her eyes fell on Yang, her own child.

 _A traitor already stained by the thief. She's already tainted with her scent. Starting over would be better, getting rid of the corrupted cub would-_

The idea, the notion that she wanted to hurt her own daughter, the way she was now, how these twisted thoughts that were not her own made her body groan from inaction.

The realisation of what she was about to do. To the one thing above all else that she'd been fighting for.

Was too much.

Raven fled.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Two days.

Two days of running.

Of Raven fleeing blindly.

Of feeling like every moment could be her last, most agonising.

She didn't know where she was going, just that it was far away from her home. She was sick, delirious and half-dead but not once did she stop.

No, that was wrong.

She knew she needed to go somewhere. Somewhere safe. Some place where she could get help, or barring, that, shelter even.

It was…

It wasn't home.

But it was someplace she'd called as such a long time ago.

Which was why she'd come to a stop, just breaking out of the treeline in a clearing in front of a wooden gate. It looked like it'd been built just recently… a replacement? Had… had it even been there when Raven left? She wasn't entirely sure. Her head was… fuzzy.

She tried to call out, to get someone's attention but to no avail. It was like her throat was filled with sandpaper, each breath she took felt like it might rupture her windpipe.

It was getting worse.

"Who's there?"

Her head snapped up to the voice, to the man atop the wall glaring down at her with his hand in a gun strapped to his hip.

A lookout.

A second later his eye locked onto hers and widened. Almost immediately he spun around, shouting back into the camp.

The gate creaked open all of a sudden, and a dozen men and women – armed to the teeth – stream out, surrounding the weakened huntress. The weapons in their hands are directed straight at her.

The message is clear.

If Raven tried anything, she'd be put down like a dog.

Wasn't that ironic?

Being led in by gunpoint wasn't the most welcoming method they could have used, but honestly, it was better than she'd been expecting. Whether they were giving her a pass because she looked like she might drop dead at any moment, or because they thought she still might be a threat was anyone's guess, but right now she'd take it.

At least they were guiding her through the camp. Surrounded as she was, it was definitely drawing a spectacle.

It struck Raven in that moment how… different things looked.

Not just the camp itself, for as fortified as it was now, so much more so than it had been when her and Qrow had left for Beacon but… the faces. Everywhere she looked, there were faces of people she didn't recognise. Newcomers, outsiders, or just those who'd grown in the time she'd been away. It was like looking at an entirely different species. And the looks on their faces. They knew who she was.

Without a doubt.

And they weren't pleased in the slightest.

"Stop." One of the men escorting her spoke, the man who'd been on top of the wall. They'd come to a halt next to a deserted campfire, on with empty tents around it and separated from the rest of the Tribe. Why there was even something like this, she wasn't sure. "Wait here." He ordered. "You don't move from here until we come get you, understand? One step out of line and I'll put a bullet through your skull myself."

How kind.

She nods, dropping herself down onto one of the logs by the fire.

She was lucky he'd told her to stay here, otherwise it would have made her look weak when her legs couldn't keep her up anymore.

He grunted and motioned to the others around him to follow as he left. Raven's eyes followed.

They were on their way to the leader's tent.

It left her alone. Thank the gods for small mercies.

Raven bent over, clutching her stomach weakly as aches threatened to force a groan from her lips.

Damn it. She felt like she was going to pass out. Something wet leaked from her lips, and when she raised a hand and pulled away, her fingers were red.

"I guess he had every right to be confident." Raven murmured. "It doesn't look like I'm making it out of this one." She let out a stuttering breath and shut her eyes. "Shit… I didn't think I'd go out in such a pathetic way."

Sickly, bleeding and on her last leg with none of her loved ones around her, none that would remember her kindly.

Raven thought she would have been okay with dying. She'd come close to it plenty of times over the last few years. She would have been fine with it she thought, so long as it meant her family was safe, that they'd finally get to know what had happened to her, that they could understand how sorry she was.

Now. She couldn't even have that. They'd hate her, Ozpin would make sure of it. He'd ruin any chance of forgiveness they might have given her, and she wouldn't be able to stop him.

And Summer.

Oh gods. She died, not even knowing why her partner had left her behind.

Raven raised a fist to her forehead and screwed her eyes even harder as she hissed through her teeth.

"I'm sorry Sum. I… I'm so fucking sorry."

"Who are you talking to?"

Raven would have jumped in her seat if she had the strength but in her stated settled for a stumble, even so, her head snapped up to the voice that had spoken.

And came face to face with a little girl with bright blue eyes.

"Ugh." Raven blinked in her deliriousness. "What?"

"Who were you talking to?" The child repeated. "Are you crazy or something?"

The huntress frowned. "No. I'm not crazy."

A scoff escaped the girl's lips. " _Sure_. Crazy people talk to themselves you know? And here you are just sittin' by yourself and talking."

Raven's frown twitched. "What do you want kid?"

"I just said." The girl pointed out. "I want to know who you were talking to."

Raven sighed, feeling a headache coming on for entirely different reasons now. "Fine, I was talking to myself, you happy?"

"Why were you talking to yourself?"

"Because I wanted to apologise."

"To who?"

"A friend."

"But you're by yourself."

"It's the act of doing it kid!" Raven snapped. "Who the Fu- Hel even are you anyway?"

The girl tilted her head slightly, crossing her arms. "Did you just stop yourself from saying fuck?" She raised an eyebrow when Raven flinched back. "Seriously?"

Raven scowled. "Kids shouldn't curse."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because it sounds bad," she said. "And it doesn't suit you."

"Oh yeah? You're saying you know what suits me then? Bullshit."

"Would you stop?"

"Why? You got a problem with it? You some pansy that can't handle a few bad words?"

Raven groaned. She's been trying her best not to wear herself, so that when she finally came back to Yang she wouldn't slip up in front of her. Now here she was back with the Tribe for ten minutes and hearing it from another child's mouth. "What business do you even have speaking like that? You're too young for that stuff."

"Hey!" the girl growled. _Actually growled._ What kind of little girl growled like a feral animal? "I'm plenty old enough to say whatever I want!"

"You're a child."

"I'm already ten!"

"Oh gods you're basically a toddler."

"What was that bitch?!"

Raven groaned again. "Never mind."

The girl scowled, crossing her arm. "Yeah that's what I thought."

A silence settled between them as the fire crackled, and the murmurs of the Tribe could be heard around them. Just far enough away that Raven couldn't make out what they were saying.

She looked around at the soft glows of the campfires dotted around the place, and the men and women sitting at them, drinking together.

It was starting to get dark.

"So why are you over here?" Raven asked, hoping to distract herself.

She got a grunt in return. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how there's plenty of places you could be, probably hanging out with anyone else, talking, telling stories, laughing or literally anything else, but you're here, with me, the one people are glaring at."

The girl glared at Raven, though the Huntress wasn't sure why.

"I want to know who you are."

"You can't have just asked?"

"You don't just ask someone stuff." She scowled. "It doesn't work like that."

What, people couldn't ask each other what they're names were "That's stupid."

"It's unnecessary." The girl shot back, though from the way she pronounced the word, it felt like she was just parroting back something she'd heart from another. "And besides, what would a weakling outsider like you know about how our Tribe does things?"

"A lot I'd think." Raven grunt. "Considering I used to live in it."

The girl stiffened. "What?"

The older woman rolled her eyes. "I used to be a part of the Tribe a while back. Before you clearly, since I don't remember your face. What, did they pick you up somewhere along the way?"

"None of your business!" she snapped. "You're lying anyway! There's no way a weakling like you could be a part of the Branwen Tribe!"

Oh boy.

"What's with the weakling shtick?"

"Look at you!" she pointed. "You look like you're about to drop dead."

That… was fair.

"Guess I do." She shrugged. "That's more because I'm really sick though more than anything… Don't worry," she added when the girl recoiled. "It's not contagious. At least not like that."

The younger girl crossed her arms and scowled again "I'm still not wrong. You've got no reason to b here."

The huntress hummed tiredly. "Hey kid, what's your name."

She received a glare. "Why?"

"Just curious." She shrugged. "If you tell me yours I'll tell you mine. You wanted to know right?"

"…Fine." She muttered. "The names Vernal."

"No last name?"

A scowl was her answer from the now properly introduced Vernal.

"Guessing that's a no then... there a reason for that?"

"You said you'd tell me your name."

She sighed. "Yeah, yeah, just trying to be polite. The names Raven. Raven Branwen."

A beat.

Then another.

Vernal blinked. "Eh?"

Raven smirked.

"Wait a second hold on!" Vernal stared. "You don't just get to gimme that look and not say anything else. What do you mean your names Branwen?"

"Exactly what I said." Raven grinned the best she could. Yeah it genuinely hurt to at the moment, but this kid had basically walked into this one. "I guess you could call me a _pure-blooded_ member of the Tribe. Kind of gives a good reason as to why I can just walk in here."

"No way. I don't believe you!"

"Look at my eyes kid. Only Branwen's can have red eyes."

"Sounds fake."

She rolled her eyes. "You're seriously telling me you didn't know? Did they not tell you this when you joined?"

"…"

Raven paused at the silence. "What?"

No answer.

She sighed. "Okay, I answered your question. I think it's only fair you answer mine."

Vernal frowned. "What question?"

"Why are you over here with me instead of with the rest of the Tribe?"

"Why do you even want to know?!"

"Because brat, you're the only one right now that's even deigning to talk to me. Which while nice, doesn't really make sense to me."

"Why not?"

"Seriously? Are you really going to make me say it? You're a pariah, kid."

The look on the child's face, how her frown slipped away to be replaced by a near blank look, was all the confirmation Raven needed. She leaned back, crossing her arms. "I'm guessing one of your parents was a part of the Tribe… mother I'm guessing?"

"…Yes." Vernal murmured.

The older woman hummed. That wasn't good. So her mother must have had a taste of some forbidden fruit… much like her.

The Branwen Tribe had faults. A lot of them, and one of many was that Tribesmen and women weren't allowed to... 'spread' outside of those chosen to join the Tribe. For whatever reason. They didn't like it. A dilution of the proper blood or something. Or, at least that was what _her_ mother had told her. That on its own though… even if she was only half of what could have been considered Branwen, wouldn't be enough to paint her as a derelict.

Which meant…

"Your mother," Raven strummed. "Did she…"

Vernal nodded minutely. "When I was born... They said there was too much blood."

Raven's eyes drifted shut. Another fault of the Tribe. They had an obsession with the strong. Raven knew it bled over into her own ideology but her team had mended that in her, and even more so in Qrow. They'd been fixated on it enough as it was at seventeen… the Tribes was far worse. Every facet of life was haunted by the idea of strength. If you weren't strong enough to live, you died. This truth was neurotically simple. No aid was given to the weak in the Tribe, not even your own blood.

Dying in childbirth?

A weakness.

How twisted and cruel.

Ironically, it reminded Raven of a far better time.

When she'd first found out she was pregnant. Tai had been so happy. So excited.

She'd been terrified.

Tai and Sum had been all sorts of confused.

That's when Qrow had spilt that the Tribe were the sort of people that didn't allow… well, any sort of medical treatment.

Summer had arranged a slideshow presentation of all things the next day to explain how completely safe she'd be.

Thinking back on it, it was ridiculous, but it was one of the reasons she was glad she'd left the Tribe. When she was young, she'd never even questioned it:

How the children of those who had died were seen was weak. As the ones responsible for their deaths.

Vernal was a bastard then, and an orphan as well as being the equivalent of a half-blood. She was here with Raven not because she wanted to be, but because the others didn't tolerate her existence any more than they had to.

She sighed. "You've had some pretty crappy luck so far, haven't you?"

The younger girl sneered. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's been pretty fucking shit."

"Well I guess I can relate."

Vernal blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What, you're not wondering why I've been dropped here with you?"

"I'm guessing that you did something to piss off the Tribe. What was it anyway? Is it because you ran away?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I did?"

She shrugged. "Why else wouldn't I have seen you here before? You're only just coming back right? That's why they're mad at you, because you ran."

"They're mad because I didn't come back." She corrected. "The tribe sent us out years ago, me and my brother."

The look on Vernal's face said she couldn't comprehend the notion of being let out. "Why would they do that? Where did they send you?"

"Beacon."

 _That_ piqued her interest judging from the way her face practically lit up. "You're a Huntress!?"

"I am." Raven smirked. "Sounds like you've got an interest in them."

"Well _yeah!_ " she gaped. "They're like, the strongest there is!"

"Hm, close," Raven managed to chuckle. "There are still plenty of people just as strong, if not stronger than your average Huntsman… but yeah, I'd say I'm one of the best."

"Really?!"

She nodded. A moment later however Vernal frowned.

"You don't look that strong now."

Raven rolled her eyes tiredly. "I told you didn't I? I'm sick."

"…is it a death sickness?"

"…"

"…Are you going to die?"

"…maybe…. Probably."

"….Why did you come here?"

"I-"

"Raven." A male voice barked, startling the pr slightly. A group of half dozen men approached, armed, and faces chipped like stone.

"The leader wants you to stand before him. Now."

She frowned. They weren't saying the name of whoever this _leader_ was. Why they felt the need to keep it secret from her, she wasn't sure, but it didn't fill her with confidence. Whoever this was, they were most likely an enemy of hers.

The thoughts gave her pause, something they didn't like, and one of the men gave her a rough shove forward, nearly making her stumble as she came to a stop in front of the largest tents in the Camp, one raised up on a dais.

A crowd has gathered around her, jeering, cursing and spewing insults her way, and in the corner of her eye she can see Vernal watching on from a distance.

It's because Raven's attention's somewhere else, and maybe because of the haze, that she doesn't see the butt of the gun until it's too late, and the sick Huntress cries out as it crashes into her back, forcing me to my knees.

"Show some respect." One of them snarls, with a face she doesn't recognise. She carves it into her memory though, and glares up at him.

"When this is over," Raven warns. "I'll make you regret that."

"No." A deeper voice declares. "You won't."

Silence settles on the Tribe in an instant and a man steps out of the tent.

His boots clack on the platform, dark marroon plated cover his arms, legs and chest, while grey fur drapes across his waist and shoulders, and spiral patterns paint his free skin the colour of blood as if he'd stepped straight out of a Norse legend.

Massive, dark, terrifying and all too familiar.

The mans eyes are as Red as Raven's own, the sign of a pure bred Branwen. Of a fighter, a killer, just like her.

They narrow at her presense, and the smile that spreads across his face is on the wrong side of vicious.

"Raven." He speaks again, voice echoing through her bones like a terible magic. "So good to see you again."

The Huntress swallows the bile building in her throat as she forces herself to meets his gaze, and her intincts scream out to run.

She knows this man.

He'd haunted her deams as a child.

"Hawk."

* * *

...

* * *

 **You know... I'm not happy about this chapter.**

 **I've been going over and over it for weeks, it's the reason this took so long, but no matter how long I looked at it I was just sort of... stuck, which is annoying, becasue there was so much else I wanted to do, things I wanted to move on to. This got in the way of that, and I'm still not completely sure I like how it turned out.**

 **I guess I'll have to see. I might come back again and rewrite this chapter on it's own. For now though, I think you've waited long enough, so here you go.**

 **I hope it's at least good enough to enjoy.**


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